When Rude met Reno
by Vitalini
Summary: Its not easy being a Turk, but what does it take to become one? While Rude is discovering what it really means to be a Turk, Tseng finally thinks he’s found a way to calm a certain redheaded devil causing havoc in the Turk department. Join Rude and....
1. Exams

Title: When Rude Met Reno  
Authoress: Vitalini  
Rating: T  
Summary: Its not easy being a Turk, but what does it take to become one? While Rude is discovering what it really means to be a Turk, Tseng finally thinks he's found a way to calm a certain redheaded devil causing havoc in the Turk department. Join Rude and many new faces as they come to face the reality that is ShinRa.

Warning: Violence and language if there is anything else I'll warn you about when it comes.

Disclaimer: I only own any original characters and the fic- obviously, apart from that I own naught

Author's note: This was inspired by a better and possibly more entertaining story, by NarcissisticRiceBall called Stability. It's fantastic, the plot is really good, so I thought I'd do a story like it but mines kinda ended up different, however there are notable similarities. I'm like that I go round and if I find something I like I want to try it too! Please don't be mad at me!

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"I can't wait until we actually graduate."

The small group assembled in the trainee's lounge in ShinRa's 'Investigation Division of the General Affairs Department of the ShinRa Electric Power Company', better known as the Turk department.

The man who'd spoken had broken the silence that, until then, had been almost complete since the collect group of trainees had entered. Only the systematic rhythm of pencil scratching on paper and the odd sound as pages were turned had been heard.

His comment brought general agreement. For the past few days, they had had nothing but examinations. After surviving (and in many cases, barely) the weapons tests, a good half had already been eliminated from their group. Those who failed in any examination were immediately sent back to restart their Turk training. A select few were picked once a year to carry out the final tests, which would see the end of their trainee years and the start of their Turk career. If they had thought the training was bad, then the exams were gruelling, and many began to worry what it really involved to be a Turk.

They were currently preparing for their final two written exams. They were so close to the finishing line now that they desperately revised every bit of knowledge they might be tested on. They knew it fairly well, but it was one of those just-to-make-sure last-minute things - after all, they could be asked anything of what they'd learnt over the past few years. The next exam would be the ninth of the ten written papers they had to take. Becoming a Turk was definitely far from easy. It was not surprising that even Rookies were so highly skilled.

Now that many had been weeded out, there were only twenty left - a fair size. They'd been informed that they had been 'a promising batch', but even so many had been trying for years.

Thinking this, Rude glanced to his left. Sure enough, his 'new friend' was scribbling away furiously, absorbing as much last-minute information as possible. He was the oldest trainee in the room and it was his fifth try at it. Already 29, many declared him too old to be still trying. Rude had to admit, he would pass the man on determination alone. Rude had never been the one for conversation and he rarely spoke out or voiced his views. His lack of opinion was what attracted his now permanent companion since they had started the two-month long exams.

The man referred to himself as Jim – short, simple, and easy to say. Apparently he'd had a much longer and harder to pronounce title, but had dropped it completely. He had chosen Jim because he'd liked it. Rude on the other hand had just shortened his name and left it at that. Jim was pleasant enough and he was good company. They'd become an unofficial duo from the start. As more people were eliminated, the average and less confident individuals gravitated towards them. Now they made up a group of five. Rude proved to be the most talented, but least vocal.

Currently the team was situated on the table farthest from everyone else, at the back. They were mismatched and less confident then everyone else, so they'd been dubbed the 'leftovers'. The name had stuck, particularly since there was an ounce of truth in it. Many of their 'members' were those that scraped through by the skin of their teeth. They all previously been part of other groups or pairs, and once their comrades had failed, they were the leftovers.

They were leftovers in another sense; they were the bottom, the last referred to, and were generally treated as the rubbish of the remaining trainees. Rude did not mind this - it meant less people he had to communicate with. He did not mind listening, but like he said, conversation wasn't his best known trait and he had to admit he'd never been too comfortable around people.

Needless to say, he fitted in with the 'leftovers' who all had some off quirk about them. In his case, it was his almost permanent silence. In Jim's case, it was his age. Their only female member, Tabitha, shortened to Tabby, was lacking in the aggression and confidence department big time. Then there was John, the younger and less-achieved brother of Marko. There was a lot of resentment between the two, and as Marko had become one of the most achieved, John was instantly sent to the 'bottom'. At least he thought so; however along with Rude he was the most talented on the table. Finally, that left Tracker, gifted with the coolest name but the least talent. They were all nice enough, humbled by their poor achievements; still, they came across pretty plain, and Rude couldn't help but wonder who'd be eliminated next.

Together, they'd coped with the last two missions as a successful team - however that was part of the reason they'd scored so low. While everyone else generally looked after their own backs, the 'leftovers' had made a silent pact without even realising it. As a result, they'd helped each other out in sacrifice of their own gain, and Rude in particular had felt the sting of missing a place in the top three when he'd tried to help Tabby during their weapons exam. He'd missed several targets, while advising and even adjusting her gun more than once to help her aim.

He hadn't minded losing his second place status for that one exam - he knew what he could and couldn't do. That was why he was the only one not furiously flipping through books but observing the room silently.

"You're creepy when you do that." Jim pointed out. Rude only just realised he was still staring at him.

"_All participants of Exam 20179 please make you way to the Academy Hall of Tuition." _

There was a collective groan as everyone put down his or her books and pencils. If anything, this would be the most testing since they no longer had the slight assurance that their comrades may help them out, they had to rely on themselves.

Marching to the Hall of Tuition was an accomplished in absolute silence. Entering the large lecture hall brought back memories of his first lecture. Somehow, Rude found renewed conviction and confidence in himself.

A Turk, stood in the centre, the desks all around him, raising up like that of a Roman Coliseum. It was the same Turk that had observed them during every exam, but Rude was never close enough to make out his features clearly; he was well built like Rude, most probably shorter since few could look him in the eye unless they craned their necks. He had long shoulder length hair, that appeared messy even from a distance and he was obviously well tanned from fieldwork. After locating his own desk, Rude quickly sat down, eager to get this over with, and tabbed his fingers impatiently on his knee as the formal instructions were read- no that they hadn't heard them nine times already.

Finally they were allowed to start. They booklet was thick and Rude steamrolled through it, confidently pouring out answers onto the paper. Still, even at his fast pace he only just managed to finish the test in time. Wrist aching he noted that each test was longer then the last and the questions harder and more complicated not to mention the time to complete each test decreased by ten minutes each time.

To everyone's surprise, they were not dismissed. Instead, a slim woman in a plain business suit and large glasses that accented her dull gray eyes brought round the final test. Rude recognised her as one of the receptionists. He sighed, massaging his sour limb. He did not even have time to worry about how well he'd done on the last test.

"The rules are the same, however you have just an hour to complete the test….begin now"

Twenty pages were flipped over and the furious noise of pencil zooming across the pages echoed in the rather empty hall. It was like a marathon, they were all sprinting. sweat collected on his brow, but he ignored all discomforts, desperate to finish. He noticed that the questions weren't that difficult and though there was no doubt a lot of them were fairly straightforward. At least he thought so.

Sixteen hours later, 5:30 a.m. the following morning, an exhausted and horrified group of trainees had gathered in the training area. They had been summoned an hour ago and none were happy. Four horrible exams in a row had been bad enough, top that with less that six hours sleep and you got an army of zombies. Rude made a good show to appear as neat and as unaffected as he always did, but he felt the same as everybody else.

The horrified part had only been a recent reaction and it was the liveliest facial expressional any had managed to pull this far. Rude meanwhile squinted up at the screen, his sensitive bright brown eyes suffering under the plasma glow. He felt his heart plummet. He was top of the group. Scoring the highest in every test, however despite his exceptionally high result on the first test, with 76 all the rest barely made it to 50 the lowest being the second writing exam, which he'd only managed 23. The other two had been technology based, one was to make a bomb and disable another, the final test had been to hack into a computer system and obtain the needed documents within a set time limit. Both of which he'd scored fairly high on, though he'd failed to disarm the bomb in time so only scored 50 on that test, the other just 48. The four totals had been average to give him 49.3, which did not seem too bad.

"Why are they different colours?" John asked.

Rude noticed this, his name was at the top, coloured green, the six at the bottom were coloured red, and Tracker was in this group. Everyone else was yellow. Rude had some ideas about the red ones but didn't want to say anything.

Before anyone else could answer his question, the messy haired Turk whom they had come to recognise as _their_ examiner entered the facility, a clipboard in his hand. Quickly they stood to attention.

"Sir!"

He glanced at them and began flicking thought the papers. Stopping when he found what he was looking for, then turned to the screen, and then back at the trainees.

"Sarah, Kon, Frank, Roc, Kim and Tracker, you are dismissed. Return to the academy where your training will start again."

That was that, with out a word, the six people turned and exited, Tracker gave a sad smile to his fellow 'leftovers' before disappearing behind the door.

"Rude." The instructor barked, once they had all gone.

"Sir"

"Congratulations you've made it to the record board." Rude wasn't the only one confused by this statement however it became clear what the Turk meant. The screen changed and a new table showed. This one only had five names printed on it, arranged in date order, thus Rude was at the bottom.

Everyone gasped, "Holy…" Jim started. Rude silently completed the oath, taking in the name just above his, Reno. Whoever that was had managed to score 89, no one else had gotten anywhere near as high.

Involuntarily, Rude found himself creating a mental imagine of what this Reno would look like. He couldn't help but think of a typical dull computer nerd, with big thick glasses, sleek well kept hair, smart suit and stern face. One of those annoying know-it-alls, and he suddenly decided that he most probably would not like the man or maybe even a woman if he met them.

The Turk let them gawp for moment before clearing his throat and bringing their attention back to him.

"Well, as you all may have gathered those last tests were more difficult," understatement of the year, "If you managed to score thirty or above you passed, this was the last elimination exam. The final three, are the most important, you shall be tested on everything you know and should know as a Turk. You should have little trouble with them. They will make up part of your final report to be given to the Commander before your initiation mission. You are dismissed." With that, he turned and left.

Immediately, the remaining 'leftovers' rushed over to Rude, as had become custom, before exiting after everyone else.

"Poor Tracker-" Tabby started, he big hazel eyes were understandably welled up, everyone knew how the two had grown particularly close.

Jim on the other hand, was buzzing with excitement. You could not really blame him, after years of trying he was just three exams and a mission away from becoming a Turk. Just like the rest of them, only they hadn't tried as often.

John was looking at Rude with admiring eyes, something he always did when the tall bald Trainee showed up his brother. "Those were ridiculously hard tests, huh?"

"Yes"

"Still that was an impressive score…" and that just started everyone else off, as they, all wanted their congratulations to be heard to. A few hours later, they were sitting in the canteen. The discussion had shifted, as they ate, what would hopefully be the start of their final, canteen meals.

Tabby swept a stray strand of mousy shoulder length hair back over her shoulder, saying as she did, "so what do you think of that Reno guy?"

"What do you mean, we haven't met him?" John pointed out, shovelling down his mashed potato; he still went by the philosophy that the faster you ate the less you'd taste.

"ewwww, don't speak with your mouth full!"

"'orry" John spluttered, and then swallowed, "we've only seen his name on a board."

"So, do you think we'll meet him?" Tabby continued, "He must be super smart!"

"If he's not dead then probably," Jim joined in, "Or if Hojo hasn't done experiments on him."

"Hojo?" the three younger trainees's chorused, receiving a shocked stare from their comrade.

"You've never heard of him!" he looked incredulous, "…Well I don't know much myself, but from what I've gathered if you see him coming you walk in the opposite direction and fast. He's one crazy scientist and loves experimenting-"

"don't all Scientists" John cut in.

"-on humans!" Jim finished eyes wide in a melodramatic fashion. Causing John to laugh,

"Very scary. Jeez you almost had me _believing_ you!"

"What do you mean by that?" Jim snapped indignantly.

"Sorry, but no way would anybody allow that to happen. You sounded like my granddad when he used to tell ghost stories." John had raised his hands defence against Jim's death glare.

"Still, back to the point, what do you think this Reno would be like?" Tabby pressed.

"Why so interested?"

"I just am, he must be something special." Tabby paused, "to get such a high score I mean doesn't that merit some curiosity."

"Nah!" John shrugged, "Sounds like a right bore to me, a bookworm or something. I doubt he'd be into field work, I mean that sort of test really what those intelligence guys do, the ones that spend months on one case, just cracking codes and stuff. Like that guy erm… what was his name…"

"Derek?" Tabby offered.

"Yeah, that guy!" Tabby pulled a face, remembering the self-important brainiest who had advanced to Rookie status last year.

"We don't like smart guys do we?" Jim joked.

"No," John agreed happily, "they're either bores or snobs." There was an array of nods to his conclusions, all thinking back to personal experiences.

"Jim" Rude finally realised something, "wouldn't you have seen this Reno at all, since he only graduated over a year or two ago?"

There was a pause; no doubt everyone was getting over the shock of their bald friend saying a sentence longer then a single word. They turned on Jim expectantly.

"Erm… Now that you mention it, I did hear about someone called Reno, never saw him or her though, just rumours but I can't remember for the life of me what they were."

Tabby sighed, obviously disappointed. "Well we'd better get ready for tomorrow."

They cleared away their plates and headed to their dorms. Rude left the small party as he turned left, while Jim and John headed straight on and Tabby went through the doors on the right.

He decided to spend the next few hours revising just in case he may have forgotten something and the evening training. Once in his room, he looked in the mirror, to examine he watery orbs. Keeping the curtains closed in his cramped living space was easier on his eyes. He still thought there was something wrong with them, but despite being slightly too sensitive and delicate the opticians insisted his eyes were in perfect health. True he had perfect vision but that did not stop them hurting in just about any type of light.

True to his plan, Rude revised and then trained. He met Tracker on his way to the gym, he didn't seem the least bit bothered about failing , instead their was a new determination in his eyes and Rude had allowed him to animatedly describe his plan of action for next years tests, however he remembered Tracker doing the same thing last year to.

Finally, he crashed on his bed allowing sleep to claim him, while inside dreading the sound of the alarm clock in the morning. More importantly, dreading what tomorrow would bring.

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So what do you think? More character interaction in the next chapter and were going to meet even more Trainees! No Reno though, but he should come up during the third or fourth chapter. I bet you're wondering about that Mark, Reno got well all should be revealed relatively.

Please feel free to review


	2. Unit 2

Title: When Rude Met Reno  
Authoress: Vitalini  
Rating: T  
Summary: Its not easy being a Turk, but what does it take to become one? While Rude is discovering what it really means to be a Turk, Tseng finally thinks he's found a way to calm a certain redheaded devil causing havoc in the Turk department. Join Rude and many new faces as they come to face the reality that is ShinRa.

Warning: Violence and language if there is anything else I'll warn you about when it comes.

Disclaimer: I only own any original characters and the fic- obviously, apart from that I own naught

Author's note: This is a very slow chapter, its sole purpose is to introduce the characters. I'm sorry I'm a slow updater. I hope this is written better than the last chapter. After all its all a writing experience so feel free to tell me what works and what doesn't.

The remaining fourteen trainees waited expectantly in the small room. As soon as they had finished their final exam, they were ordered to follow their examiner. They quickly realised they were being lead into the ShinRa's main building. The academy was set slightly apart, and trainees were not to step foot in there until given permission. It had finally been granted.

They didn't see much. After being lead through what appeared to be a narrow plain corridor, they were directed to a room and then left there until further notice. At last the door opened; only it wasn't the door they'd come through, but one behind them.

"Ahem."

They all jumped at the sound of this new voice. They spun round to face the speaker, recognising their examiner standing silently beside her. She was a short woman; her suit was in pristine condition and her dark eyes were sharp. Her long hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail; Rude estimated she was in her early thirties.

"Ma'am!" They chorused, saluting their superiors. She rolled her hark-like eyes, showing she was too experienced in this line of work and tired of the typical trainee responses.

"Whatever. You know you are one of two trainee units to make it to this level." She did not expect an answer so she swiftly carried on, despite the fact that it was clear they had no idea there was another group. "The two groups will be split into four. Each group shall be assigned a simple mission. A Turk will accompany you in case there are complications. However, you are expected to conduct the mission yourselves, and since it is a real mission there is a chance that you maybe injured or killed. Any questions?"

Silence. However, some were looking less at ease now. They knew they would be entering life and death situations, but it still seemed too soon.

"Good, please follow me where you will be assigned your group and your _first_ mission." With that, she promptly turned around and stalked out the same way she had entered, only this time with a herd of soon-to-be rookies at her heels.

Rude was at the back. It suddenly struck him how much bigger he was compared to everyone else. Sure, he towered over just about anyone he met, but he was definitely built bigger and was far muscular then anybody else. Thinking back to a comment Jim had made, he really _did_ stick out like a sore thumb.

They stopped. With a clear view over everyone's head, Rude watched the woman pull out a clipboard from seemingly nowhere. She took a moment to view the piece of paper attached.

"Jim, Marko and Rude, stay. Everyone else proceed with Mr Surph." She tilted her head to their examiner. "I will join you shortly."

Rude glanced at Jim, who flashed him a confused expression. They watched their comrades being lead away and Rude couldn't prevent the anxiety building up inside of him. What was going on?

"This way please." The woman gestured to the door she had just opened indicating that they were to go through. It led to yet another plain corridor. Thankfully, it was smaller and they soon arrived at the metal door at the end. The Turk worked her way to the front in order to face them. "Go through here. You will meet the rest of your team who you must work with on your mission. Use this time to get acquainted; the second in command will join you shortly and go through your profiles. Now I must get back to the others; excuse me."

They saluted her as she passed. Once she was out of earshot, Marko glared at them, his stony eyes drilling into them.

"Leave the talking to me." His words were directed at Jim, since it was long established that Rude was the voluntary mute.

They nodded since a dispute was certainly more hassle then it was worth, though neither were overjoyed by the man's immediate take over.

Marko opened the door and led the way inside, the others trailing behind him. Rude squinted as his eyes adjusted to the slight change in light from the shadowy corridor to the well-illuminated room. He rubbed his exposed eyes, wishing for his eyes drops.

The sight that greeted him when he opened his eyes was quite surprising – but then again, he hadn't known what to expect. The other members of their team had obviously been there a while, for they were well settled in the chairs provided. Whatever talk they had been involved in had stopped instantly when the new trainees arrived.

They looked each other down - three against three. Rude noticed the woman first as she was sitting between the two guys. She was tall and slender, with long wavy dark blonde highlighted hair. Unlike Tabby, who was overly shy, this woman had a sense of certainty and strength about her. The way she confidently held their gaze told him she was no push over and liked a challenge. He concluded it would be an interesting change.

Not half as interesting as the other trainee on her right though. This guy was huge. Rude knew _he_ was built big. But he questioned whether his head would reach the man's shoulder. He was also fairly certain two of him could fit comfortable inside the giant with room to spare.

"Hey." Rude's attention was brought to the last new face. He was average built, but shorter then the rest, with a more rounded face and reddish brown mop of hair on his head. It was a nervous greeting, but a greeting none the less.

Further "how do you do's" were interrupted as the door opened again. This time it admitted a familiar figure. The second in command of the Turks; Tseng.

The man's silky raven hair was pulled back in his characteristic short ponytail - one indicator of his Wutai heritage. Other signs were the symbolic tilak in the middle of his forehead, and the standard features custom only to his race. Indeed, there was no mistaking him.

"Sir!"

Silently, Tseng stepped into the room, a smile on his face as he nodded for them to stand at ease. Whenever the man had visited the academy, he never smiled – well, none of the trainees had seen him smile anyway. Not that it mattered; his presence in the building had often stirred a thrill. The sight of their superior now inspired the same feeling.

Rude squeezed his fist, drawing himself away from the overflow of thoughts and observations, concentrating on the task at hand.

Tseng pulled out a thick file from behind his back. As he flicked through the huge wad of papers, the deafening silence stretched on. Was he trying to draw out the tension? Rude wondered, realising how he was suddenly unexplainably anxious, and the long drawn out silence was straining on his nerves. Time ticked by. The scent of sweat increased in the stuffy room. The trainees began stealing swift glances at each other, their bodies tense and eyes alert. Tseng remained as he had been, flicking continuously back and forth though the file, his smile still in place. Rude wanted to scream, something he hardly ever considered, but the stuffy room was weighing down on him and the ticking echoed in his ears. No one dared to fidget.

"Ah." Tseng finally exclaimed, removing a collection of different coloured paper from the immense file. He flashed them a quick smirk. It was enough to confirm their suspicions that their superior had been so agonisingly slow on purpose. Rude noted how different the Wutai commander was acting to how he was normally known to. Was this just part of the initiation?

Tseng put the cumbersome file down before straightening to his typical imposing stance. The smile was gone.

"I will go through your profiles. This is based mainly on your performance during internship and the recent examinations you have taken. From these, you should have a clear view of the people you are going to work with, their skills and preferences. This information will be vital when you consider on how best to carry out your final mission as a Trainee, especially since you will be depending on each other. Shall we begin?"

The six other occupants nodded, and Tseng brought the collection of red notes to the front.

"Let's see…Robin Banks. Interesting name."

The short man with the mop hair quickly rose and saluted, his boyish face solemn. Rude noted Lithia's lip twitch up, and there was a slight fondness in her eyes as she viewed him. What this meant, he couldn't tell, and considered it immaterial for the time being.

"Ranked fourth in your group. Exceptional tracking and hunting skills. Preferences for using the shotgun, though comfortable were using any firearm with notable accuracy. Unfortunately, you have only managed to master the use of fire materia, as it appears from your internship you had difficulty with all others. Still, good progress so far."

Tseng nodded to the now slightly blushing man, who returned to his seat.

"Next…Jim. No other name?"

"No, sir."

"…I see. Ranked eleventh in your class. You are skilled with handling handguns. Reasonable accuracy, though improving all the time, I believe."

Tseng gave Jim an encouraging nod. Rude knew that Jim was slightly nervous, and the less than perfect results in the exams were only because, like himself, Jim chose to support his comrades and thus missed some of his own targets. Tseng most probably knew this as well. No doubt, his skill would improve with his confidence.

"Capable with any materia though well acquainted with the restorative kind. Overall very promising…Lithia Ackart."

Rude watched as she stood; she wasn't as tall as he had first thought - most likely around the same height as Marko, but still she was an impressive sight.

"Ranked 3rd in your class, weapon of choice Sansetsukon though an accomplished martial artists, ice elemental, excellent."

She sat down, and Robin gave her a less subtle smile then she had offered him. Tseng appeared to note the interaction as well before carrying on.

"Marko Rioz, you have a brother who's also partaking this exam?"

Tseng glanced over to the young man standing. He was one of those good-looking guys, tall and muscular with a rugged complexion. John always claimed how his brother had taken all the best genes before he was born. True, Marko was in some ways handsomer than his younger brother, but Rude would much rather be in the company of the plainer sibling any day.

"Top of your class…" Rude shut off as the report continued to praise Marko. The _exceptional student _couldn't stand straighter if he tried, and Rude wondered how much more smugger the man could look. Jim rolled his eyes. Thankfully, the report was as short as the others, so there wasn't too much to endure.

Rude found himself once again looking round - there wasn't much of interest or anything distinctly notable that hadn't already been noted. He found himself examining the field commander again. It was well known that Tseng was young considering his position, but there was wisdom in his steely eyes that many far older than himself would never possess. His suit was spotless; in fact, Rude dared to believe him to be flawless. He cut a fine figure.

"Rude, yet another with no surname." Tseng offered him a slight smile. Rude shifted uncomfortably under the watchful gaze of everyone else. He was never one to enjoy the limelight.

"Ranked second….hmm, interesting. Fist fighter. Have not had one of those in a while. Preference to fire materia, though good with any type of offensive magic. That's everyone." Tseng returned the papers to his file, "You will be alerted when its time for your final examination. In the mean time, you will remain here and become further acquainted. Good luck."

With a curt nod, he left them. The large Trainee sighed loudly, breaking the silence that had continued. What was his name again? Oh yes, Trent.

"So…" He started, but failed to come up with anything else to say so he let the sentence hang.

There was another long pause until Lithia finally took it upon herself to indicate to the remaining chairs stacked in the corner of the room, "Just sit down, you three, you're making the room look untidy."

Jim smirked at this comment but, like Rude, obediently fetched a seat. They were hard and uncomfortable, but he quickly got used to it. Marko remained standing.

"I think we should use this time to consider what were going to do for the mission."

"One problem, big shot," Trent called over to the said big shot. Marko glared dangerously at the offending man, who continued, "We don't know what the mission is yet."

There was another awkward silence. Rude stole a glance at Marko, whose mind was visibly steaming as he considered what to say next. He was obviously not used to being spoken to like that. Jim nudged him in the ribs and winked. Rude followed where the shorter man was indicating with his thumb; Trent was smirking at them while Lithia and Robin were giving Marko a strange look. Rude concluded he liked the large man already.

"Fine," there was a very audible strain in his voice, possible due to pent up anger but he controlled it, "Maybe we could consider what positions everyone should take."

"Isn't that obvious?" Lithia spoke up flicking a brown wave back behind her ear, "Rude and Trent prefer close range fights, Robin and Jim are best at long range and myself and you could easily adapt to mid range if the occasion called for it. So depending on the situation and set up, we'll just change accordingly."

Robin flashed her a smile, "Way to state the obvious there."

"Well, someone had to tell him."

"I knew _that_, thanks."

Rude sensed the hostility growing between Marko and the others - much to his delight - but still, it could jeopardise the mission, and that was something none of them could afford to do. Before he even considered what he was going to say, Marko spoke again.

"Right," For some reason his confident smile was back in place, and Rude had a feeling were this was going, "To put it bluntly, every mission needs someone organizing and taking charge - a leader basically. So, who wants to be the leader?"

As if anyone was going to volunteer. Everyone was silent again, looking from one to the other, not sure what to say. Rude felt his eyes well up slightly, the lighting not doing them any good.

"In that case, if everybody is willing, I would gladly take charge of the mission." Marko flashed them a grin.

Jim elaborately rolled his eyes; something Rude imagined everyone else mentally doing. Still, it saved them the trouble of doing it, and since he was Mr. Exceptional Student, it made some kind of sense. Rude mentally thanked any god that was listening that John wasn't around; as entertaining as it would be, Rude thought the smoother things went the better.

"Something wrong with your eyes, baldy?" Trent's deep voice once again cut through the lengthy silence.

Rude stopped rubbing his sore eyes, "They're just a little light sensitive." His reply received a concerned look from the larger Trainee. But as Rude didn't make any further response, he shrugged it off.

Robin, finally having enough of sitting and doing nothing, took out his shotgun and began polishing it. Obviously, he kept it well maintained; you could see his reflection in it. Others began doing the same, pulling out weapons and looking them over. This made sense since they would be depending on them for the mission. Unfortunately, Rude didn't have such a distraction.

Rude glanced down at his hands - his weapon of choice. He knew how weapons could fail people, but being too dependant on an object had never appealed to him, not even when he worked in a weapon store. If anything, that experience only enforced his resolve to master martial arts; something his mentor at the time encouraged. He preferred to depend on himself, though he wasn't above using a firearm if the situation called for it.

Tick by tock, time slowly passed by. Lithia and Robin were chattering away happily together once more, and after some time even permitted Marko to join them. Rude remained sitting were he was, having pulled out his leather gloves he decided he would put them on. Jim, sitting beside him, was anxiously looking at the clock. Considering the cruel little test that Tseng had put them through before, Rude couldn't help wonder if they were being made to wait unnecessarily long on purpose again.

Both were too distracted with their thoughts to hear the large Trainee stroll up to them. However, the slight screech of a chair being pulled up finally alerted them of the visitor.

"Sorry, you two looked a bit left out. Mind if I joined you?"

"You sure _you_ weren't the one feeling lonely?" Jim teased, a smirk on his face.

Trent returned the smirk playfully, "Okay, maybe I was feeling left out, but you two didn't look like you were having much fun either."

Jim smiled genuinely, and Rude decided that this Trent was an acceptable person - not that the others weren't, but they hadn't bothered to come over. Rude sneaked a quick peek at the other three; Robin happened to catch his eye and pulled a face while indicating towards Marko, who was oblivious to the motion. Rude felt a small tug at the side of his mouth and nodded.

"Then again," Rude turned back to Trent who was also observing the others, "those two don't look too happy with Mr. Leader, do they?" Rude shook his head.

"Not much of a talker, are you?"

"No he isn't, though yesterday he managed an entire question, and I think he starting to get chattier. He said a _six_ word reply today." Jim flashed him a grin, to which Rude just shook his head.

Trent chuckled to himself, eyeing them up. To Rude, it seemed like he was taking in everything about them, and he wondered if the man was comparing them to other people he knew. Well, Rude could honestly say he had never met a person like Trent before.

Returning his gun to his jacket, Jim looked back at the clock. Trent leaned back and ruffled the clump of messy hair on top of his head. Rude wondered if it was meant to be spiky.

"You tense?"

Rude nodded. This was hopefully the final leg before they would officially become Turks - something he had been striving towards for the past three years. Unlike some, he had opted to take it slow; he could have taken the exam last year, but doubted his chances of success. After everything he had been through just to get this far, and the amount of pressure on them, it stood to good reason that anyone would be tense.

If they failed, the least that would happen would be that they'd have to train all over again. That was traumatic enough, especially for a certain someone sitting next to him. The worst that could happen was that they could end up dead.

"Don't worry about it. Even if you mess up you'll get another chance - so long as it wasn't your fault, that is. I'm only going on what I've been told though." Trent carried on, "It wouldn't be too difficult, I hear, just some low level stuff just to test us in a real life situation. Still, they put limitations thingies on it to make it harder, like you can only use your preferred weapons or something. Hope we get a simple in and out one! I hate stalk outs but it looks like we're going out quite late, so I don't know what that means. I don't think I've heard of a Trainee getting a assassination mission first time though, usually its take the target alive sort of thing. Wait; there was one, but that a very special case. Confused my mate totally when he heard about it. It was confidential an' all, but he let it slip, so I guess we could get anything."

Rude stared at him, not sure what to make of all this. He blinked as his damn eyes played up again.

"You should really do something about that." Jim noted, tearing his gaze from the large man and back to Rude.

"Forgot my Eye drops."

"He speaks!" the older Trainee elbowed him in the ribs, trying to get Rude to smile.

Truth was, it took a lot to get a real smile from him; he had not been able to use those muscles in his face for a long time. They most probably did not work anymore.

"So you have a friend that's already a Turk then?" Jim pressed.

Trent thought for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, had to get him really drunk though before I got anything out of him. I had to be careful, mind; he can drink me under the table anytime."

"No way," Jim's mouth dropped open, "Is he bigger than you?"

"Bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. I can hold my liquor better but no, he's a real runt in comparison to me, but that doesn't mean much since most people are." He let out another chuckle, "Nah, he's just a bit taller than me, but nowhere near as muscular. I'd say slimmer than average though, that clearer?"

"Infinitely," Jim tapped his finger on his chin, thinking. "You hang out with him a lot?"

"Erm… no, since it's hard to get a time that fits use both. Turks are on call 24-7 you know. Besides, Trainees and Turks aren't really supposed to mix. We got away with it since he passed last year; I didn't because I was too slow, but we were close so I guess they let us hang out once in a blue moon."

There was something in the way Trent said all this that made Rude wonder if it was true. Not that he didn't trust him, but there was an edge in his tone of voice that sounded as if he wasn't sure about what he was saying.

Trent caught the suspicious looks and offered a weak smile, "Not sure if I should have said all that. I mean, I could get him into trouble." He rubbed the back of his head nervously with a thick hand, beads of sweat on his brow. It was getting hotter.

"So. what do you guys like to do on your evenings of fun?"

A quick topic change, but the question finally sparked a real conversation since Jim was quite passionate about his past times. Rude concentrated, drowning out their loud voices as he focused on the upcoming task. Whatever it was, he was determined to adapt and do his best, that was all he could do – well, apart from pass.

"_Unit 2. This is the final portion of your exam. Everybody, go to the rooftop, your transport is waiting. You will be debriefed upon arrival."_

Everyone looked up at the small black box in the corner. Once again, silence reigned supreme.

"Great, I get told what to do by a box. C'mon, lets get this over with." Trent yawned. It was six P.M.

Rude felt a slight thrill pass through him, and for one blissful second it replaced the unease in his chest. They had been waiting for hours; now they were finally off.

Please read and review

A/N : Sorry, I've been reading loads of fanfiction and it occurred to me how limited my vocabulary is. I will try to write the next chapter in an improved style, get a real mood going and everything. I have tried to stick with the style of the story I'm basing this off but I don't think it'd hurt to try and do it differently. More action and character interaction in the next chapter and by Chapter number four I think everyone's favourite redhead may make his entrance. Writing as Rude is harder than I thought, especially with no Reno to play off. Did you know I have over 40 chapters planned for this fic? When I will do it is another thing entirely.


	3. Roses are

Title: When Rude Met Reno  
Authoress: Vitalini  
Rating: T  
Summary: Its not easy being a Turk, but what does it take to become one? While Rude is discovering what it really means to be a Turk, Tseng finally thinks he's found a way to calm a certain redheaded devil causing havoc in the Turk department. Join Rude and many new faces as they come to face the reality that is ShinRa.

Warning: Violence and language if there is anything else I'll warn you about when it comes.

Disclaimer: I only own any original characters and the fic- obviously, apart from that I own naught

Author's note: I think in my last Chapter I said something about 40 Characters well there will be 34 Turks, 3 secretaries, quite a few bad guys I'm estimating 4 main ones but they have they need their strong henchmen too, some good side characters so I'll most probably have around over 40, but I meant over 40 Chapters planned. I have nearly filled one of those really big A4 note books with my rough notes, not that you really need to know that '; By in case your interested I have some major characters coming in. They're cameos but because I know she would love to do this in real life some chapters later refers to book chapter 47 I guess, her cameo hits Hojo in the face. I have that planed out an I'm only up to chapter 3 XD

**Now for a very important notice: The wonderful Paris Writer kindly went through my story to correct all my slip-ups of which there appeared to be many, thus I need to say a huge THANKYOU to Pariswriter, for making this chapter uber fantastic! **

They finally made it to the roof by following signs. The corridors all lead to the roof. Despite the fact that they were in ShinRa's main building they were still separate. The Large aircraft was waiting for its passengers, and the engine impatiently roared in their ears as they boarded. There was plenty of space for them all to fit comfortably - even Trent, despite being the size of a mini Truck.

No sooner had they seated themselves, than another followed them on. They looked up to see Tseng once again standing smartly before them. They took off, not so gracefully, making Rude brace himself to remain steady. Tseng, however, retained perfect balance and was completely unfazed by the tilted launch.

"I hope you all got to know each other better. This mission - and your lives - depend on it."

Rude took a moment to glance at the others. They eyed each other nervously, unsure if they were prepared to put their lives in each other's hands if the situation demanded it. Jim got some nervous looks, which wasn't surprising considering his rank. Trent just smiled as he leaned against his metallic seat.

"So you think the model is going to make a good leader?" he whispered. As he was positioned between Rude and Jim, they had no trouble hearing him.

"He's got the marks, I guess." Jim shrugged; it got to him a little how someone who only had to train for two years had surpassed him already.

Trent seemed to pick up his bitter tone and gave Rude a questioning look. Of course, the bald man did not answer him. Still, he must have been able to read something in Rude's face to say to Jim, "Slow and steady wins the race."

The smaller man looked at Trent for a second before smiling. "I don't think that counts in this business."

"You'd be surprised: Good marks don't mean anything. _This_ is the real test. You can be a real dunce - well that is not _strictly_ true - you'd have to be an extremely _talented_ dunce, but a dunce nonetheless and you can still make a fine leader."

"You sound so sure."

"The academy is just to refine your skills and make you lethal. The real education starts after you become a Turk. It's not always who can spout out the right answer the fastest, it's about who can pull the trigger first, who can cope with the pressure, who wouldn't crack and who really knows what they're doing. These other tests were just for the company to understand us and I doubt they really amount to much. They're just trying to weed out those who wouldn't last five seconds in the field. As we all know, there are some people that come in and they're already more than capable of being a Turk, they just need some refinement. Of course, _they're_ the ones that ShinRa offered a job to _personally_, not like some of us who had to sign up to start the training."

Again, Trent was showing his infinite knowledge about the system. He seemed to realize this as well, "Don't I sound like a right know-it-all? Still, if you looked in the library and have contacts like I do, you get the information, no problem. Baldy here has the right idea, let fools like me talk my guts out and you learn things. Bet you guys didn't know Lithia is one of those special selections, did you? She used to be a bodyguard for this pimp, caused a lot of trouble when ShinRa decided to make him disappear. Once they killed the guy they offered her a job. She has some wicked skills. What you looking so down for shorty?"

Jim glared at the nickname. He was taller than average, but in comparison to Trent and Rude he was a shrimp. "Nothing, I'm not down about anything."

Trent gave Rude another look. "Touchy, isn't he? Ah, you're not happy about that signing up thing. Well, rest assured, every man and his _dog_ can sign up but you _do_ have to have something about you that ShinRa can make use of. Robin was only accepted because of his exceptional hunting skills - apart from that he was just a regular guy - but look at him now. If they see potential in you, they _will_ want it. We were picked, just in a different way. They will trust our loyalty to the company more, since it was completely voluntary, but we may lack the real hands-on experiences the others have."

"Wait, are you saying that those whom ShinRa, let's say scout or pick whatever, don't join voluntarily?" Jim was both concerned and confused. Trent viewed him with slight pity.

"Well yeah... Let's face it: Loads of them are often from gangs, criminal groups and such things. Unlike SOLDIER, the Turks usually will only offer you a chance if you've already got talent and skill, not just potential. Besides: It's either be a Turk or die, and ShinRa can't afford people who can compete with their forces to be against them."

Jim gulped. Rude contemplated what Trent had said. The man definitely knew a lot - maybe too much. He felt eyes on him.

Tseng was staring at them. In the dark hull, he couldn't help but shiver as the sinister gaze relentlessly bore into him. Was the field commander angry with them?

They cleared some clouds, allowing the moonlight to shortly illuminate the inside better. Tseng didn't look angry anymore, now that he could see him better. In fact, there was evidence of a restrained smile at the corners of his mouth. Still, Rude felt unnerved.

"We're nearing the destination, Commander."

Tseng stood and faced them once more. Rude had to shake himself a little to get over his nerves. By the time he had them under control, Tseng was nearly done.

"The goal is for us to see how you cope on a real mission. However, there will be a Turk present in case of any trouble. The only things you are allowed to use are whatever you specialize in. This is to test your resourcefulness and ability to execute a simple task. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir!" They saluted just as the aircraft began its swift and quiet descent.

They landed, and quickly everyone got off. Tseng, however, remained on board, hand already poised to close the door.

"Good luck. Don't forget the target is to be taken alive." With that, he shut the door and their transport departed. Apparently, they were on their own.

"Right. We just have to apprehend the target. Sounds simple enough."

"Walk in the park," Robin muttered as he trudged after their "leader," who confidently strode into the foliage of the rather dense forest. Did Marko even _know_ which direction their target's base was?

They allowed Marko to go another 50 meters. However, once they were under the cover of the trees, Lithia stopped, causing the others to do the same.

"Okay, _now_ where are we heading?" she asked, arms crossed over her chest, her body tilting to the side.

"Tseng said the base should be northeast of where we were dropped off," Jim informed her.

"So why are we going _west_?" She frowned at Marko, who sighed.

"It's called getting under cover."

"I thought it was called getting lost."

As Rude had predicted, an argument rapidly broke out - though it _was_ in angry hushed tones. After five minutes of useless bickering, Robin thrust his compass at Marko. "Fine. Lead the way."

"Hey, I've done this plenty of times during training. Trust me," Marko tried to assure them.

"I think we all have--" Jim, in a spurt of high spirits dared to point out, but a glare from Marko quieted him.

However, Trent, who had already turned round to head back, finished the sentence: "But internship doesn't make you a professional."

Lithia just shrugged at Rude when he caught her eye as they observed Marko rush to get in front of Trent. Like him, she had let the others squabble despite causing the problem. Good thing she had.

Robin looked back and beckoned them to hurry up as their leader stormed on ahead.

"Did anyone catch how far this place is supposed to be?" Jim questioned, after they had trekked another half a mile in the right direction. Robin looked back and shrugged. Trent and Lithia were walking close behind Marko. Their formation was a line and they were making swift progress.

They continued through the forest. When Rude last bothered to look at his watch it was almost seven. A short while later, they neared a small stream and beyond that, the riverside warehouse that the target was using for a temporary base. It was bigger than Rude had imagined but well concealed, if not a little derelict on the outside. Nevertheless, even from there, the faint sound of activity could be heard and dark figures patrolled the outside.

"Okay - Lithia, Robin, and Jim scout the area and report what you find."

The trio nodded and disappeared in a flash, Lithia in the lead. Rude guessed Trent and himself had been judged too big for scout work. Rude knew he was more than capable and guessed in the dark Trent could pass for a large boulder if he hunched down. The man was perfectly still, and Rude had to squint just to catch the tiny movements of his chest rising and falling. As soon as the others' delicate footfalls were no longer distinguishable, Marko gestured for them to come closer. They needed to formulate a plan.

"Okay... The best thing would be to split up, each group having a long, short and mid range specialist. Then we'll just have to corner the guy and graph, simple."

"You sure that's going to work? Sounds too simple to me - what about the guards?" Trent pointed out, flashing the warehouse a concerned look.

"That's the idea of _sneaking in_. Besides, it's nothing we can't handle."

"Save it for after," Trent murmured, still gazing at their target's hideout. Rude followed his gaze; he guessed the larger man had an ill feeling about what they were about to get themselves into. The feeling was contagious.

They heard some rustling behind them just before their comrades bust into view, panting and out of breath.

"Were you spotted?" Marko questioned, eyes darting about. That was the last thing they needed, to be caught before they even started.

"No, but if we're going to get the target we better move fast. There's more guards than expected already, and we've just seen another load come, as well."

"Define 'more than expected'?"

"Don't know for sure, but the place is _definitely_ not lightly guarded as the report suggested, and we saw about fifty going inside. There could be more."

Marko eyed Robin for a moment, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"We'll go ahead as planned. We'll split up, and that'll decrease the chances of us being detected." He eyed Trent for a moment. Rude noticed the giant was fiddling with something in his jacket.

Marko decided to have Trent and Robin in his group. He was going to pick Rude, since Trent appeared to grate on the handsome man's patience, but Lithia grabbed him first. As compensation, Marko took Robin.

"Right. We'll go in the far side and you sneak in the back way. Everyone got it? Okay, let's go." No one followed Marko as he started off. For the second time he had to stop. From the annoyed look he gave them, they could tell he wasn't used to so much opposition. Actually, Rude knew he wasn't.

"What do we do when we get inside?"

"This isn't just an infiltration mission."

"Your plans too vague."

"We're going to get caught."

Marko looked ready to breathe fire. Still, they all made valid points. Rude noted how worried they all looked - including Lithia, who was biting her lower lip, her confident aura vanished. Surely, she had been in worse situations than this considering her apparent previous occupation, but then he remembered that look she had given Robin. It was more than just their own lives at stake here: One slip, and they were all doomed. Rude automatically wiped the sweat off his brow, despite the fact that it was a cool evening.

"Okay, men... How about once we get inside we check out our respective positions and depending on what we find we'll decide on the best course of action?" The woman suggested.

"Yeah, sounds good. We can text each other so we know what the others are doing," Jim added.

There were nods of agreement all round - including Marko - though their leader added, "We're timed here… so be ready to act immediately. Let's split."

Before Rude even registered,what was going on, he was already bounding after Lithia, who gave him a surprised look, not expecting him to keep up so easily.

Suddenly she spun to the left and dropped down, and they followed suit. Jim realized too late that they were jumping off the edge of a small river cliff. Reaching out Rude grabbed him and clamped a hand over the smaller man's mouth. They landed with a thud, and he felt a gloved hand yank him back. He turned to see Lithia with a finger pressed against her lips, indicating with brown eyes to look up. They did, just in time to see a foot kick a rock over the edge of the cliff. They watched as it landed in the stream, a pitiful splash in its wake. Rude pressed himself harder into the wall.

"It was most probably a fox or something." A gruff voice sounded over their heads. A bit of dirt rained down in front of them, "Get back here you idiot, that'll collapse under you."

They listened as the heavy footfalls of the guards' booted feet left, then looked nervously at each other.

"Go!"

Taking off at a mad sprint, the trio bounded across the stream and up the slip of slope on the opposite side. Their pants dripping wet, they dived behind the cover of some bushes. Then they discovered, all too late, that they were _rose_ bushes.

"We must be close," Lithia rumored, pulling a thorn from her jacket sleeve, be careful not to tear the fabric.

"You think anyone saw us?" Jim's voice was hardly audible, but they were huddled so close together that they managed to catch it.

"If they did, they're not making a fuss. Well... If you guys were hoping to intimidate the target into submission, I can say _that_ is out of the question." She eyed their muddy, wet uniforms. Rude had to admit that, even in the dark, they looked disheveled.

"So now what?"

"We go ahead as planned. I suggest we crawl through these. I know it is a pain, but they appear to go around back - and at least we'll be covered. I can't see too many guards, though I can't see much of anything, really." She frowned as she peeped over the thick tangle of branches.

Rude shook his head. It was the best course of action he could think of, as well, but crawling through a long row of brushes filled with thorns was not what he had expected he'd be spending the evening doing. As they started out - biting their lips every time a thorn dug into their skin and stopping each time it happened - Rude wondered if they'd even get close to the building before dawn. Jim muttered something about a snail passing by.

Half an hour later and they were nearing the corner that would lead them to the back. They made good progress with only two more near misses. The first was when Lithia knocked a bird's nest as she pushed her way through. The bird had let out a large screech and shot out of the bush in angry disarray. Rude swore his had heart stopped then.

Thankfully, an owl, which may have had its eye on the sparrow for some time, took this opportunity dive for its escaping prey. The guards must have thought that's what had spooked the small bird since they hadn't heard an alarmed raised or anyone charging towards them.

The second was when Jim slipped as he untangled himself from a net of thorns he'd crawled into. His fall had caused a huge dip, noticeable enough for a guard to point it out. Once again, it had been dismissed, since only one appeared to have seen the movement. Rude mentally thanked whichever god was watching over them this night.

"I can't wait to get out of these bloody roses," Lithia grumbled as she slid her slender form between two branches. They were scratched and bleeding all over, but there was nothing they could do about it.

"Yeah, they stink. Still, can't complain about the view." Rude could just see Jim's thumb as he indicated to Lithia right in front of him. He could also see that as soon as this was over Jim was going to get a slap, a very painful one at that.

"Almost there."

Indeed, they were, but then they faced another problem: The back was surrounded with guards. From this side, the warehouse was well illuminated, as many of the ground floor lights cast the men and vehicles outside in its glow. The large trucks, currently being filled with large crates, also had their headlights on. Rude felt his eyes swell and silently cursed.

"Come on."

He let Jim pull him along, ignoring the snags in his clothes. There was so much activity and noise that they could afford to move faster. Rude noted the sudden light change and pulled his hand from his eyes. They were next to a truck. Its bulk blocked most of the light, its long shadow casting them into further darkness. There was no one around. With a nod, they turned and crawled quickly toward the edge of the rose bushes. A final pause, then the trio dove under the truck, which was parked so close to the rose bushes they doubted anyone would have seen them.

Dragging themselves across the dirt beneath their shelter, they took in their surroundings. They appeared to have passed the main area of activity. It was darker down this end and a few more trucks were in front of the one they were currently hiding under. Apparently, it was one of many in a long queue waiting to be loaded. Rude noticed a lone guard patrolling the area jump down to where the parked vehicles were and quickly pushed the other two heads back under. Everyone held their breath as he passed.

"So how do you suppose we get inside?" Jim whispered, eyes scanning the terrain.

After a moment Rude pointed, Lithia followed his gaze and understood what he had in mind. "Okay… Now all we need is a distraction."

A soft chuckle brought their attention back to their oldest member: "I've got it covered." He rolled out from under the truck, cradling something in his left arm.

"Jim, no!"

With surprising force and accuracy, the man hurdled something into the distance. He did it repeatedly, until he'd relieved himself of his burden. His aim and rapid succession as he'd thrown what Rude presumed must have been rocks gave the impression of something clumsily rushing through the bushes towards the stream about 60 yards or more away.

Before the guards began yelling and rushing to investigate, Jim was already next to them under the truck one more. A couple of guards thundered their way, heading towards the shouts, and they waited for them to disappear.

"Now."

It took them less than two minutes to race behind the crane before bounding up the crates beyond it and into the semi-open window. The last stage had taken them a bit longer, especially Rude.

Blood pounded in their eyes. Search lights were switched on outside, but it appeared activity had quieted and was settling back to how it had been. Scuttling away from the window and further into the rafters of the warehouse, Rude calmed his shaking body. He hadn't realized they had climbed this high, but then he hadn't really been looking at where he was going. The whole mission was going like a dream. Lithia reached the middle and, using the height advantage, observed scene beneath them. Softly cursing, she pulled out her weapon and leaped gracefully onto a lower rafter. Rude held Jim back as he was about to follow her. She continued to bound like a cat from beam to beam, stopping now and then to make further observations.

Rude pulled out his PHS and prepared to text the woman's report to Marko. After about five minutes, she returned.

"It's quiet up here, but from what I could see the next floor is _packed. _We may have to fight our way through, though I think I saw a hole in the floor that we could use to get a better idea of what would be the best course." As she said this, she closed the PHS in Rude's dark hand. She was shaking terribly, as they all were.

As silently as possible, the three made their way down. No one appeared to be guarding the top floor, but that didn't stop them from taking the most sheltered and discrete route they could, which wasn't hard since the place was filled with junk. Loud voices could be heard beneath them, however they could not understand a word of it. The place smelled of moss, pond water, and roses, though Rude wasn't sure if it was them our not.

Reaching the previously mentioned hole, they halted at its edges. Cautiously, they looked over the brim. Workers and guards went back and forth. Rude was surprised how far down the next level was. The place could easily have five levels, though it appeared only to have three. Pulling back, Rude glanced at Lithia. Finding only fear in her face he turned towards Jim, who was looking at him expectantly. Rude guessed because he appeared so calm on the outside that they presumed he had a plan. How he wish that was true.

He looked down once more, ignoring the great distance between them and the floor, if someone was to push him…. Shaking his head, he forced himself to concentrate this time. Lowering his head further, he managed to get a view of the more immediate area. On the opposite side of the room he saw the single metal stairway that lead to the room they currently situated: No one was walking up it. There was a stack of crates not too far away that they could use for cover, if they could only get _to_ them. He considered their equipment: A PHS each, a gun, and a three-sectioned staff. _Marvelous,_ he thought, _just flipping' great._ It was too far down anyway…Or was it?

Looking up, he considered the height of the last beam they had jumped from, then compared it to the distance he thought they would have to fall to towards the crates. They could do it, but there was a high chance they would be seen. Still, he hadn't crawled though a load of rose bushes to give up now. With no better ideas coming from the others, he took a deep breath and in hushed tones informed them of his plan.

"Lithia I need you and Jim to swing me towards that pile of old crates there." He showed them, and when they understood he carried on. "Use your sansetsukon, and then do the same for Jim and I think you can jump it yourself." There was a pause as she considered the distance before bobbing her head.

No one questioned that fact that they were likely to be caught and Jim was too scared even to make fun of Rude saying the longest thing ever since knowing him.

Lithia pulled out her staff and extended it to its full length, the chains rattling noisily. They froze, eying the weapon as if was a venomous snake. Rude noted that one end was pointed. She gave them an apologetic smile. It was the best they had, and it would have to do. Latching on to the speared end, he nodded.

It wasn't as bad as he had imagined. It took just one swing and he'd gotten enough momentum to leap clearly behind the crates. The thud was muffled my the heavy and dusty layers of cloth piled on top of them. Muffling his cough, he turned just in time to catch Jim and then Lithia as they followed suit. Each time clouds of dust rose up and settled back down around them. He was dying for his eye drops.

Suddenly, Lithia felt a vibration in her Pocket. Pulling out the shaking PHS, she flipped it open and quickly scanned the message, swearing once she finished. Rude looked over her shoulder, as did Jim. Who gave out a similar reaction.

"_Marko moving in for a surprise attack. Wants you down here pronto. There are hardly any guards around. Thinks they may all be outside. Target in site. Hurry." _

It was a trap. That's why there were so many on this level: As soon as the others made their move everyone was going to race down and corner them.

Before Lithia could even reply, they heard a gun cock above them.

"Hello" A man grinned evilly down at them, just as an alarm sounded. Rude cursed as the gas canister landed beside his foot.

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How was that? Good, bad or ugly? Chapter 4 coming soon.

Yay I cannot wait, Reno makes his entrance in the next chapter . I prefer how I've done this one, still need to work on the mood though. As Seth7 pointed out Rude does not have his glasses (OMG), however he gets them in checks notebook Chapter 5 and to no surprise that chapter will be called 'Shades'. If you're wondering about the strange name for this chapter it will hopefully make sense by the next.


	4. Red

Title: When Rude Met Reno  
Authoress: Vitalini  
Rating: T  
Summary: Its not easy being a Turk, but what does it take to become one? While Rude is discovering what it really means to be a Turk, Tseng finally thinks he's found a way to calm a certain redheaded devil causing havoc in the Turk department. Join Rude and many new faces as they come to face the reality that is ShinRa.

Warning: Violence and language if there is anything else I'll warn you about when it comes.

Disclaimer: I only own any original characters and the fic- obviously, apart from that I own naught

Author's note: Guess what I just realized after my friend informed me, but I had to think about it but anyway, Reno is left-handed another interesting fact to add to my 'Renoology'. Well I hope you enjoy this chapter, its quite long, just 13 pages in word so I could say I've been working hard at it.

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He couldn't remember when his head had ever hurt this much. But then he couldn't remember a lot of things; such as why his head hurt so much in the first place. Perhaps this is what it felt when those massive Midgar signs fell right on your head. However, as his head was pounding in two places at different rhythms, he must have hit his head twice. His chest burned as he struggled to breathe.

Gritting his teeth Rude calmed his turbulent thoughts. After all, it hurt to think and the pain was obviously stopping him from thinking straight- signs falling on your head where did that come from?

Soft groans drew him back to reality. Why was he here again? With a surprising amount of difficulty, Rude moved his head round and forced his eyes to open. It hurt him to do so, since someone had the bright idea of shining a blazing white light at him. Nevertheless, he made himself look, in the hopes of getting some idea of what was going on.

Ignoring his natural alarm that was telling him dawn was approaching; he focused on the important things. He believed that if he kept staring long enough he'd see past the blinding light. Blinking away tears, he started to regret not bringing his eye drops. Then again when would he have use them on a mission? They wouldn't be much help since he felt like he was tied up from head to toe. It would be nice to know _why _he was tied against a steel pole, in the middle of- what he was beginning to see- a warehouse filled with crates, metal barrels and various junk. Then again, you cannot have everything in life.

Finally, he managed to make out the still forms of Lithia and Jim. The other blurred bodies beyond he presumed must be Trent, Marco and Robin since Trent's bulk was particularly distinguishable and he couldn't see anyone else. Further strained observation revealed the others appeared to have had a rougher time then his group had. At least his team looked like they had had an epic battle with just nature and mothballs.

"Looks as if like baby brown eyes has finally joined the land of the living."

A loud chuckled quickly followed this comment. Rude, compelled to find the owner of the voice, tore his gaze from his companions. Squinting helped and he soon found the figure leaning over a catwalk leering down at him.

He did not realize his body was completely numb and stiff, until the sensation began to ebb and he slowly felt beyond the contents of his insides again. Suddenly able to move parts of his body again he feebly struggled against his bounds. He was not truly free but he was relieved to have the ability to move a digit or two. After a minute, he could achieve bending the digits simultaneously. The sense of achievement was shattered as the chuckle from above burst into uncontained laughter.

"How pathetic." The laughter subsided to a soft chuckle once again. Under other circumstances, Rude guessed this man could he seen as a jolly fellow. "So, ShinRa thought they could get rid of me with a butch of inexperienced green horns. Tut tut."

Looking into the smirking face Rude concluded he wanted to hit the man.

"Doesn't look like any help is coming for you either. Your big friend will be disappointed." The mystery villain pulled out something from his pocket and dangled it in front of him, "we found his PHS was on, no doubt calling for help. Rude flinched as the man emitted more mad cackles. Remembering the mission, it was a rush of images but enough to explain the current situation. Was this the target?

Cursing his stubborn eyes he blinked, warm tears streaked his cheeks. White spots blocked his vision. If only someone would turn those damn lights, off. His reviving senses and subsiding headache was the only good thing. He wished that the tape on his mouth were removed, so the man could hear the stream of abuse Rude was mentally sending in his direction.

The site of the man irritated him to hell. The fact that he could not get hold of the irritant and snap his neck was infuriating. He shut the man out. Returning his attention back to the surroundings, he concluded they must on the ground floor. The place was crawling with Guards. They patrolled the catwalk. More stood on and around the large crates scattered by the walls and in corners, surrounding them. In fact, the places as much cramped with people, as it was junk. Last night activities had ceased. Uneasy anticipation hung in the air.

The others began to stare. Why they hadn't been killed yet was beyond him. Whatever their target had in store for them he knew wouldn't be pleasant. Now that the rest were waking up things would gather pace. The man however, appeared to content himself with watching them suffer as they turned from the bright light as Rude had done before.

"It's a shame really. You dying on your first mission. After getting so far, though be content to know I've killed more experienced and skilled punks than you." He continued smirking to himself, eyes looking towards the windows beyond the six trainees.

The others struggled in vain, they were stuck, end of. Lithia gave him an apologetic look. As if it was her fault, they were in this mess. If anything he was more to blame, his plan had been fool hardy, he hadn't thought it through.

The lights flickered off. Rude's breathe caught in his throat. What was this? The other gasps of surprise from all around in the slight gloom, reassured him. This wasn't planned, perhaps it was just an electrical failure. A moment passed before some lights started shine above them. The place was lit up in an orange glow.

There were some nervous shuffles around them, a few guards slipped from the room. The man, Rude was certain was the target, coughed.

"Anyway," his voice faltered slightly but when the man spoke, again his tone was as mocking and confident as before, "How shall I have fun with you?"

He motioned to a guard, who promptly began to tear the tape from their mouths. He struggled with Trent and Rude, as he was a short man, thus making the experience more painful. They glared defiantly at the target, acting braver than they felt.

The target laughed again, though it had a nervous edge to it. Rude knew they hadn't brought on this fear, but what had? The target was being careless, they were trapped but there were many flaws in the security, if help was coming they'd have no trouble taking out the guards or the target. Despite what the man claimed, Rude guessed he had few dealings with the Turks.

He desperately wished that things would speed up. The damp heavy moss smell made him want to gag.

The man stepped out of the shadows. With nothing to blur his vision Rude finally could seen the man clearly. The word toad came to mind. The target was big and blubbery, with shiny skin and fat lips twisted into a sickly smile. He was as grotesque as his vocals.

"Firstly, while you're still reasonably sane I would prefer you to tell me why you were sent here,"

They looked at him questioningly, that was a good question all they knew was that they were supposed to capture the target. Unfortunately, the man had a short temper.

"Well! Didn't they inform you as to why you were sent?"

Again they didn't reply, watching the last hint of mirth drain from the mans ugly face.

"What was your purpose?"

Rude felt some satisfaction with the target's annoyance. Trained never to allow a single bit of information about any of ShinRa's doings or reasons to pass their lips, they dutiful held their tongues.

With another jerk of his thick hand, he signaled another guard to come forward. This one had a machine gun, which was soon pointing under Lithia's chin.

"Now gentlemen are you going to keep playing dumb? Surely, the information isn't worth dieing over. After all, I doubt it'd even be of use to me."

"Then why ask?" Robin burst out, glaring dangerously at the their captor.

"I would like to know what've I've done to offend Mr. ShinRa, so maybe I could make …amends." He smiled menacingly down at them, "I wouldn't throw my generosity back in my face boys, unless you want her brains to decorate the floor. You have until the count of five."

It suddenly hit Rude how depressing the situation was. When you consider that, the climax of his life was going to be shot in the head in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere.

"One"

Not even that but at the hands of someone who couldn't even hold a gun straight. Even worse, by the orders of some pompous, pathetic, fat man that was not worth the air he breathed.

"Two"

Had he trained so hard for this? Lived and survived that short period in the slums for it to end now? Had he given up his friends; his family; his simple, comforting if a little patchy and unsatisfying life to die for no reason?

"Three"

It struck him that he did not even know why he was here. He had no idea what ShinRa wanted with this man, didn't know what good would come of it. Is this what happened to so many Turks, did they give their lives up not knowing why, not sure if what they were doing was worth dying for?

"Four"

"…"

"Five!"

"NO"

BANG!

"…Shit, yo"

There was a pause. Slowly everyone turned to look at the door that had slammed open. Rude watched as the guard that had just rushed into the room, flop lifelessly to the ground. A bullet hole through his head.

"Quick lock the doors" The man bellowed as he retreated into a thick nest of guards.

Lithia released a soft sigh as the guard, who'd been so close to putting a bullet through _her _head left to help the others. Despite the fact they were being barricaded in Rude couldn't help but feel things were turning in their favor.

Everyone settled again. Guns aimed at every conceivable opening and there was much agitated fidgeting. Muffles footsteps sounded from the floor above accompanied by uneasy creaking of the floorboards. A tense silence hung in the air. they were surrounded.

A sudden loud metallic thud startled everyone. Instantly hundreds of guns swung round to be aimed at the metallic door. More banging ensued, becoming a continuously rhythm as their rescuers fruitless tried to bash their way through the heavy metal doors. Rude assumed they were there to save them since he couldn't imagine anyone who would want to get in so badly. Maybe he was just assuming what was bad news for their Target could only be good news for them….he hoped.

"I don't think that's going to work."

"Shut up, if you idiots had any aim we wouldn't have to do this." Rude eyes widened as he recognized the clipped voice of none other than Surph, their examiner.

"Why don't we use the explosives, yo?"

Even through the thick door, Rude could tell the man was talking through gritted teeth as he replied, "Because, if you hadn't noticed, this warehouse is as structurally safe as a tower of playing cards so any explosions will cause the _whole_ section to collapse on us!"

"Whatever yo, but I meant the small ones to go on the hinges or lock."

"That would be great if we _had _any of those… okay everyone push!"

There was another loud bang, louder than any before. The sound bounced off the walls to cause a painful vibration in everyone's ears. It was followed by a creaking noise.

"Harder!"

The door released an alarming screech. They were finally making headway, but the lock still wasn't budging.

"That still ain't gonna work."

"Well unless you have a better suggestion shut up and stop arguing. Now get out of the way scrawny"

Rude felt his heart drop as each renewed effort flailed. Jim gave him a sad smile, preparing himself for the worst. The others had similar looks of defeat. He struggled again against his bounds but like the door, they weren't giving. They were so useless that no one paid them any heed. All they could do was wait.

"We're going to die aren't we?" Jim mumbled.

"Hush" Trent scolded, the pounding masked his loud voice but they could clearly hear him.

"Hush! Hush! Why do I have to hush? Its true isn't it. The only way they're going to get in here is by blowing the whole place up, that is if they don't give up, and allow Mr. Fat Guy to do what he likes with us!"

"Calm down," Lithia whispered eyeing the nearest guards, "yelling and getting angry isn't going to help anybody."

"Yeah, but what exactly can we do, since you know we're kind of stuck." Robin so kindly reminded everyone.

"Just you wait, they'll get in." Trent gave them a reassuring smile.

"You sound too sure," Marko finally joined in, voicing what everyone else was thinking "How do you know?"

Trent only shrugged and returned his attention to the door. The others shared quick confused glances before following his example. Rude felt an expectant and impatient feeling bubble up inside of him, he silently cursed Trent for causing it.

"Red, where are you going? Get back here!"

"Red!"

The angry words seeped into the room as the banging stopped. Whoever this Red was, they sounded like a handful and Rude guessed that was the Turk that had been arguing with the superior before. There was a pause; people on both sides were no doubt looking at each other nervously. However Trent was positively beaming, was this what he'd been waiting for?

"WHAT THE-"

He didn't know why, but he looked up. Just in time to see something black, red and blurred hurl towards the window before crashing through it.

The thing landed beast like, all its limbs extended so it was practically flat on the ground save for an inch or two. For a brief second it seemed too stayed like that as it took in the impact of it landing. Glass shards cascaded down in a sparkly shower. There was a pause, then all hell broke lose.

Was that a man or a woman? Whatever, the Turk had some killer moves and already thirty guards were withering on the floor with broken body parts. Bullets flew madly in the air and Rude feared they'd get caught in the cross fire. But the red headed Turk didn't seem to notice them as he or she quickly dispatched all those in their way.

Rude an achieved martial artist found it hard to identify exactly which art was being used by the new arrival. He vaguely recognized some moves so assumed that is was a mixture of styles or a totally new interpretation. The effect was far from amazing. It was deadly.

The Turk was swift; he had never seen anyone move so fast. This advantage appeared to give the redhead an edge despite being ridiculously outnumbered. Taking out several more guards before the last victims had even hit the floor.

They gawked as the redhead ran up a far wall, narrowly avoided the pursuing bullets, he or she flipped to land on two guards before running head on into another pair. He watched the reckless move with horror and anticipation. The Turk jumped at the critical moment and kneed both in the chest, sending them sprawling to the floor. Without stopping, the Turk high kicked the next guard in line who failed to raise their gun in time. A successive spinning kick to the jaw sent them flying into a group of approaching guards. A smirk was clearly plastered on the new-comer's face.

The sun ascended lazily over the horizon, finally casting its golden rays into through the windows. The previous shadows disappeared and every guard was clearly illuminated, the room went further back than he thought. The catwalk the target had previously was in fact like a bridge over the mountain of boxes that sectioned one side of the room to the other.

The never-ending army of guards launched towards the redheaded Turk, who appeared to glow standing under the bright sunbeams. Lithia let out a gasp as the Turk launch himself or herself up, just in time to avoid being tackled to the floor, grapping onto the catwalk and hoisting themselves over so stand high above them. It was annoying that he couldn't tell the gender of their rescuer. Not that was the most pressing issue, but since he was a mere spectator at this current time Rude couldn't help but think of tonnes of things at once, that question appearing to be the most prominent.

"Give up!" one bold guard called up as she aimed her gun at the tied up trainees, "or we'll shoot them."

The rest followed her example and once again, hundreds of guns were pointed at them. This did not faze the redhead, who simply cocked their head and calmly strolled forward.

Rude noticed for the first time, the person was covered in bandages; one eye was completely hidden behind the thick wraps that encased half their face and a good potion of the other side. The Turk's hands were also bandaged, a fact he noticed as said hands were raised in the gesture of surrender. _Already?_

Still the redhead was smiling. There was a long metal instrument in his grasp that hadn't been there before. Something was off.

Everyone ignored the furious curses of the Turks still locked out. Rude wondered why no one else had followed the redhead in. Sneaking a quick glance at the broken window, he knew why. He hadn't appreciated how high up the window had been and it was a dangerous drop on the other side. He concluded this Turk must be insane.

Before he could continue his thought process, a strange pale green glow snapped him back into attention.

"Bolt4"

A bright light flooded the room, rivaling that of the sunlight as the surge of electricity flowed across the floor, striking very guard. Rude was amazed they hadn't been caught up in the attack. The catwalk cackled with electricity but the Turk was no were in sight.

Abruptly, he felt his chest was relieved and his movement was no longer restricted. Stumbling forward, he saw the redhead move from one to other of his comrades and free them at remarkable speed. Once Trent was free, the redhead spun round and bounded behind the nearest stack of boxes. Of course, they followed suit.

Crouching behind the boxes allowed Rude to get a better look at the Turk who had been sitting waiting for them. He still had no idea what gender to classify the Turk; he was getting a little obsessed about it. It was just niggling at him; the redhead was either a very feminine man or a particularly handsome and attractive tomboy. However, the red head was looking straight past him. The single bright blue orb was intently staring at Marko.

"What do we do now, _sir_" All belief that this was a woman was thrown out the window, and many blanched at the soft masculine voice. Marko glared angrily at the mocking title the Turk gave him.

Then again, was this a Turk? He had assumed it was, but then they could easily have sent the nearest trainee squad. Giving the guy another look over he hardly looked like a professional. His tie was missing and his shirt was hanging out with the top and bottom buttons undone. Dark shades kept fiery bangs out of the way. The rest of his hair was a mass of messy and crazy spikes, which varied in length. At the back his hair terminated in a long ponytail that was currently dangling over his shoulder as he lent forward. A smug look on his face.

"Well the target must be trapped on the other side of this room, so we charge the enemy and grab him."

Lithia, who was the only one bothering to keep a look out, frantically shook her head. Ducking down she informed them of the guards beginning to stir.

"Should have used a more powerful spell, yo." He snorted to himself and peeped over the boxes. Rude felt happy to clarify that this must be Red by matching the odd speech pattern they had heard earlier. He concluded from all his observations that this must be another trainee; he could not imagine a superior or a qualified Turk acting in such a reckless manner.

"Yo, anybody got a gun on them?"

Jim and Robin raised their hands as Red raised an eyebrow surveying their weapons and nervous posture. Swearing softly he returned his attention back to the wakening guards. After a minute or two of sitting in silence, Red looked down at them expectantly. They had to make a game plan.

"They have more guns than us, charging them wouldn't work. Got anymore bright ideas?" Trent asked.

"Well we could split up-"

"Bad idea. I don't know about you but I don't want to die tonight." Lithia cut him off, much to the Marko's irritation.

"Okay, what do _you_ propose then?"

"…"

They really had no clue, and the longer they took the less chance they had of getting out of here alive. The vain banging against the metal door had restarted a while back but only now were they aware of it. The rhythm matched his pounding heart perfectly, but that made it more difficult to think. Then again, considering how his last idea had turned out it was perhaps best that he didn't come up with anything.

"Well, we have shot guns, a rifle, a Sansetsukon, a sword and two fist fighters against a horde of guards armed to their eyeballs." Jim counted on his fingers. His face suddenly light up as if he'd realized something fantastic and he immediately turned towards the new comer. "Do you use a weapon?"

Red had been calmly observing their limited conversation with a slightly curious expression (that made him look like a confused puppy). With a snap of his wrist, the silver rod they had seen early appeared in his hand again.

Jim's face fell. Everyone recognized that as an electromagnetic rod, or more frequently abbreviated to an EMR. Why anyone would pick that as their weapon of choice was a mystery to them all. It went without saying, such a passive tool wasn't going to be much use here.

"…okay…" Jim's face had quite literally drooped at the sight of the silver stick. Red laughed, something that would have been more appropriate in an entirely different situation.

"Got any suggestions then, or are you just going to sit there and laugh?" Marko was glaring daggers at the redhead, who clearly was paying much attention to him. Rude wondered what was bothering the class superstar more, the fact that Red appeared to have a better idea of what was going on then he did or that he appeared unfazed by the predicament, unlike the rest of them.

"Thought you'd never ask yo…you guy with the rifle."

"Robin."

"Go up those crates behind you and help give cover fire but also be a lookout… Old guy with guns you give cover to birdie and the rest of us."

"I'm not old and the name's _Jim_."

Red blinked at him for a second then shrugged it off, "…okay. The model and Sir Leader can open those doors and let the rest in."

Lithia was caught between a blush and a scowl whereas Marko just continued to death glare Red, who held up his hands defensively.

"Sheesh, It's not like I know ya, yo… Okay you two come with me." Before anyone could object, he leapt over the crates and ran off, Trent in hot pursuit. Rude shook his head and bounded into action, just as the rest did as they'd been told.

Red was frighteningly quick, and Rude wondered if he'd be able to catch up. Completely ignoring the guards, Red jumped, rolled and twisted out of their line of fire, speeding past them so fast that many flinched as he passed.

This allowed Trent and himself to take care of them. He watched as Red skillfully maneuvered around, practically gliding up the stairs and disappearing round a corner before they'd even reached the bottom. It was hard not to feel like a lumbering giant as he followed in the shorter man's wake. Storming up the stairs, he glanced over to see Robin easily taking out guards. Lithia was already working on the lock and Marko was slicing through the few that still stood in his way.

Reaching the top of the stairs, they rounded the corner only to be confronted by a long row of stunned and injured men. Rude frowned, trying to make out any unseen threats in the heap of bodies. Trent tapped him on the shoulder and he nodded. Taking deep breath he sped on, lashing out at anyone that was still conscious.

Red had put a surprising amount of trust in their hands. Leaving most of the guards for them to deal with, thus depending on them to take care of the guards and stop them shooting him.

A well-aimed punch sent a man flying over the railings while Trent dispatched another with a swift snap of their neck.

They finally rounded the last corner panting. Looking down he choked on air. The warehouse extended further than he had guessed and somewhere in the vast expanse of colored boxes gunshots and yells could be faintly distinguished. How were they going to find Red now?

Trent pointed to the left and Rude's his jaw dropped. Red was running along the _wall_, as one would the ground, no doubt in pursuit of the target. He disappeared from view. Disconcerted on how far behind they had fallen he sped up, Trent following at a furious pace.

Choosing to travel over the boxes, they rapidly gained ground and the yells of pain gradually increased in volume. A second glimpse of red ahead was reassuringly close. Trent jumped down; a thunderous thud indicated his landing. Rude stayed on top of the boxes, they were right behind Red who was following the Target like a demon.

The end of the warehouse was in sight and the gentle glow of after dawn brightened the room. Rude lost the target and Red as they dived into a tunnel composed of boxes. He stopped. Where had Trent disappeared?

Walking cautiously forward, with only an eerie silence behind him, he wondered how the others were fairing. He felt terribly exposed and looked nervously around. The smell of old dust crept into his nose. Sneezing he figured this was an unused part of the warehouse.

Walking over a wooden cage, he made the stupid mistake of looking down. The bleached bones of a giant chocobo stood out against the dark and long rotted wood. The cage creaked and without a second thought he jumped the rest of the distance and ran. Make that a very, very unused part of the warehouse.

"AHHHH!"

Halting yet again, he tried to pick up where the scream had come from. Not considering what he was running into he went in the direction he thought the noise had come from. However, he was much warier of his surroundings and took extra care of where he stood.

Skidding to a stop, Rude crouched down and observed the scene before him. He was impressed. They had cornered the target. But Trent was down clutching his shoulder and Red had crimson speckles splattered across his bandages. He was glaring menacing down at the fat man as he prowled around him. The Target shakily pointed a gun at Red, sweat pouring from his fleshy brow.

"Now, now Mr. Toad," the red head cooed, "we only want to talk to you, yo."

"Ha, as if I'm going to believe that now stay back or I'll shoot."

Red smirked, bringing out his EMR, he twirled it between his fingers continuing his leisurely stroll. Sudden he stomped at the man.

Startled he dropped the gun and wailed, "Please don't do anything!"

The trainee had already kicked the weapon out of reach and leered over the sobbing disgrace.

"Lucky for you, we gotta take you alive" The man perked up at little at this. "Don't get all excited yo, nobody said I couldn't have a little fun with you first."

Blue electricity crackled along the length of the EMR as it came down in a swift arc. Rude was amazed, yet again, as the rod stopped just above the unconscious man.

Red paused, his weapon still hovering over the passed out target, his head tilted to the side as he listened. That was when Rude finally heard the people calling to them. Turning round, his watched as Surph bounded towards across the boxes, followed by other Turks.

"There you are!" the examiners voice could be heard clearly despite the distance, "Red, I'm going to throttle you and-"

"AH!"

Further threats were disrupted, as Surph turned round in time to see one of the other Turks fall down as a box gave way beneath them.

"Fuji, you _Idiot_!"

"eww, there's a dead Chocobo down here!... It _stinks!"_

"Carta, get that moron out of there!"

"Fuji, I think you need to go on a diet, yo!" Red cackled madly beside him. Rude jumped, he hadn't heard or sensed his approach and even more surprisingly he was shouldering Trent.

Trent was in bad shape, he could see now he'd taken a bullet to the shoulder and the wound was leaking blood all over the smaller man who was physically shaking under the weight. Quickly he took Trents other side and together they met Surph half way.

"The target is back there, yo."

Rude blinked at the blatant disregard to proper conduct, he didn't even say sir. Surph overlooked this, too concerned about Trent's injuries. He waved some more Turks that had followed to go and retrieve the target and took the shoulder Red had been carrying. Rude felt the weight on him decrease considerably as the older man could shoulder more than the slender Trainee could.

"Scrawny, go ahead and report to Tseng he's on the radio."

With a sloppy salute Red ran off, still full of energy.

"Trent, are you okay?"

"I'll make it; it's not as bad as it looks." Trent smiled but his voice came out strained spoiling the act.

"I beck to differ," Surph swiped blood off his face and sped up. Fuji and Carta following them and behind them the rest carried the unconscious fat man. Rude thanked Gaia for adrenaline rushes, otherwise he was sure he would have collapsed along the way.

It didn't take long for them to get back to the other side. All the guards had been cleared away and tied up waiting for transportation back to head quarters. He wondered what was going to happen to them.

Rude was pleased to see that no one else was injured, though they were all pretty beat up. Lithia was flopped on the floor nursing a stiff hand, Robin sat next to her and they were chatting quietly. Marko was surveying the room, looking in control and content once again. Jim was standing in the corner out of the way. When he saw Rude, he brightened and hurried over, but his face darkened at the sight of their largest comrade.

Surph waved him off before he could say anything. Rude picked up the pace as they rushed to the nearest exit, wanting to get outside as soon as possible since there was no doubt transport and medical supplies waiting.

Shielding his eyes, they stepped outside. The examiner tugged him off to the side in the direction of a large helicopter settled on the dewy grass. Had it rained last night? He glimpsed Red talking into a radio, no doubt to Tseng. He didn't look happy and there was a obvious pout on his thin face.

Once they'd handed Trent over to the medics, Surph immediately stormed over to the Redhead. Rude stayed with Trent, who was quietly frowning. Rude let him brood; he didn't really know what to say anyway. They'd failed their mission that was for sure. It wasn't long before the rest of the team came over. Lithia and Jim quickly fawned over Trent's injury as soon as he was all bandaged up.

"Does it hurt?"

"What happened?"

"Is it serious?"

The large man just smiled and shook his head, trying to calm the chorus of frantic fussing. "I'm fine."

"But you lost so much blood!" Lithia said weakly eyeing his soaked suit as she tenderly rubbed his back. She was very pale which surprised Rude considering she used to work for a gang that had most probably been all but slaughtered when the Turks decided to eliminate her old boss. Guess she cared more about this job and her fellow colleges or maybe it was something else.

"I'll live, I've known people to survive worse, just be thankful we have the best medics working at ShinRa." Trent waved her concerns off, indeed he appeared to hardly notice the injury now. Rude guessed some materia had been used.

"You sure you're alright?" Jim pressed, the bandage already had a bright crimson patch showing, which was steady spreading as they spoke; he'd need a new one soon.

"Yes! You lot are worse than my mother and she's-"

"DON'T YOU EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

Spinning round they saw Surph really laying into the red-haired young man. Trent's expression soured once again and Rude could not help feeling sorry for him. Abruptly, Trent stood up and walked away. They followed averting there eyes from the scene as everyone else was. Usually a telling off happened in the superiors office, where it was more private, they couldn't help but feel disrespectful just overhearing the lecture. Shutting off their ears, they scurried towards the aircraft that they recognized.

"Poor guy, huh?" Robin said, as soon as they were boarded and out of earshot. "That's a real ear bashing he's getting."

"I wonder what he did wrong." Lithia mused as they sat down in the seats they'd been in yesterday. She was still a little paler though they all were.

"I don't know, maybe argued with a superior, jumped through a window that was fifty foot high, could have killed himself and the rest of us in the process, and showed complete disrespect for a Turk." Marko so kindly enlightened them of their savior's crimes. Rude felt like punching the jerk, no wonder John hated him so much.

"But if it wasn't for him we'd still be in there. Let's face it they wouldn't have gotten through no matter how long they kept bashing those doors." Robin argued, ignoring his seat belt since he was too busy staring down their "leader".

There was a round of nods to this statement. Marko just shrugged it off and took his seat, muttering something under his breath.

"Say, what happened after you guys disappeared round that corner, I heard someone fell into a box with a Chocobo corpse in it?" Jim in his usual fashion brought up some gossip to lighten the mood. The man didn't like awkward situations and had to keep things moving unless he was sulking or something. Funny how they hadn't changed at all, the bald trainee mused.

"They were just bones." Rude assured him.

"You make it sound dead boring, lighten up, we're alive, be happy." Jim chided, everyone gave him a look recalling how he had freaked during the mission.

"What?"

Rude just smirked, shaking his head, definitely no change there. Trent had gotten up and was sharing a quick word with the pilot.

"What happened on your side?"

"Oh my, he even asks questions now!" Jim was lucky there was nothing he could throw within reach.

"Not much, Robin and Jim pretty much covered us and the guards were still too stunned to put up much resistance so it looked far more exciting then in actually was. Not that I'm complaining, it's just a shame we had to get caught because they would have been real easy to beat." Lithia explained, leaning against the wall.

"Was there an information leak or something?" Robin asked.

"I think the target indicated there was but either way there must have been one, why else would there have been a _gazillion_ guards?" Jim pointed out, "I hope that guy gets what's coming to him."

"Why Jim, I never struck you as the revengeful kind." Trent joked as he joined them again.

The shorter man just shrugged and changed the subject, "how did you get shot?"

That was a good question, funny they hadn't asked sooner.

Trent was quiet, considering how best to answer, "Basically I walked in at a bad moment. Ren…Red, looked like he was about to be shot, I blew the whole situation out of proportion and my interference resulted in my injury. I underestimated Red and over estimated the Target. Therefore, when I grabbed him to get out of the way, the Fat man took the opportunity to shoot. Ironic, no?"

"Well its bad to under estimate a Targets abilities so what you did was understandable." Lithia reasoned as she returned to her seat.

"If a bit over dramatic, yo."

"That's not very – whoa how did you get here!" Jim in all subtly blurted (out not to mention jumped out of his skin while he was at it, but since he wasn't the only one Rude couldn't exactly tease him about it later.) How did this trainee manage to be so damn quiet?

Red, who was casually leaning against the door frame smirked, "I walked through the door, yo."

The smart-aleck strolled inside and plopped down next to Rude's feet, ignoring the spare seats.

"Okay, let me get this straight, yo" he started, appearing to be in deep thought, " James bond over there is Trent, Marko is the male Model, Little Jimmy is the old guy, Birdie is Robin and Lithia is the Chick, so that leaves Mr. sheen."

He looked up at Rude, wearing a cheeky smile, not sure how to react to being called after a furniture polish he simply snorted.

"Not very talkative are ya, yo?"

Make that how was this trainee able to be so damn quiet when he was so talkative, he'd been here for what, just over minute and already said enough to cause everyone's hairs bristle.

"Red, get out of here before Surph comes and gives you another ear whooping" Trent advised, easily lifting the skinny man up from the floor.

"Sure thing hero," The red haired man grinned as he leapt of out the aircraft, sprinting away into mesh of helicopters and planes. Soon after the engine roared and before they'd slammed the door shut they were already airborne.

It wasn't long before they were back at headquarters the quiet journey back had lulled yesterdays and the days earlier events to a mere memory and all he wanted to do as go to bed.

Finally, they landed and everyone hurried to get off. Waving to each other as they departed to do there own thing, many heading towards there respected dorms, something Rude was planning on doing. However, that idea was shattered when Tabby and John came bounding towards them.

"You're back!" Tabby squealed launching herself at Rude who automatically spun round to stop him falling.

"What took you guys so long?" John grinned as he made his calmer approach.

"There were a few issues." Jim scratched the back of his head nervously, grinning like an idiot.

"So how did your first mission go?" John pressed, taking his usual relaxed stance.

"Complete failure, and yours?"

"I've _never _been so _bored_ in my _entire_ life." Tabby giggled at John's dramatic sigh.

"You two look the worst for wear, what happened?" She asked, "You must have had a more interesting time then we did, I never want to guard a lecturer again!"

"It's a long story," Jim sighed.

"Isn't it always?"

"Oh yes dear, it is."

Rude rolled his eyes as they began their typical routine conversation pretending to be an old married couple, it was as if nothing had changed. He allowed Tabby to tug him along, away from the direction of his room.

"Guys we have three hours to kill before curfew, who wants to go information gathering?" She butted in after a few more minutes of senseless play-acting.

"Information gathering?" John asked instantly pulling a face.

"Well since were in the main building I thought we could, you know, find some more stuff about that Reno."

John gaped at her incredulously for a second, crossing his arms he said, "Your still obsessing over that guy?"

"I'm not _obsessing_ I'm just curious."

"…suuuure."

"Remember what curiosity did to the cat Tabby, this is ShinRa we can't just go snooping around." Jim added in an odd spur of wisdom.

"I know but this is our best chance and you two have to report back to Tseng as he evaluates your performance in the morning so we should take this opportunity just to check the building out." Rude had to hand it to her she was persistent. Shame she could not be more like that around other people she would go far.

"We have to report?"

"Yeah, you'll get a notice about it." John elaborated mid yawn, "Tabby, why so insistent on this Reno quest, I thought you were all gaga over Lyon our supervising Turk."

Tabby turned a deep shade of crimson at this, "Shush, that's not true." Still she buried her face behind Rude anyway.

"We might as well look around, that flight's made me stiff and if were lucky we may come across something about this Reno." Jim decided.

"Whatever, but you do realize he'll either be a boring scientist, dead or boring strict official, in fact I bet he'll be ugly and fat and plain." Rude wondered how many times John had used the word boring so far, must be his word for the day.

"JOHN!" It was Tabby's turn to look at him incredulously, "how can you say that?"

"I don't know… but I just did. Come on I did not mean it, but I don't think he's someone to get to hyped up about. It will be a major let down, we may never see him."

"Lets just go" Rude said, gentle ushering them along the corridor.

"Oh yeah so about your mission, guys what was it like?"

"Don't ask."

"I just did, didn't I?"

"Damn you….okay from the beginning-" Jim really didn't need much convincing did he?

Sighing, Rude followed his friends down one of the many winding corridors. He shut out their conversation and allowed his thoughts to move to the days events. However, the more he thought the more the image of the red haired trainee flashed across his mind. He was an oddball that was for sure, would he ever see him again?

"….But we were saved by the really strange trainee, I could have sworn he was a woman but …."

Rude sighed, at least he wasn't the only one who'd thought that and Jim was right about the strange part.

"So let me get this straight you were saved by a crazy, suicidal, transvestite trainee, Jim this isn't like those stories you were trying to pull the other day?"

"They are not stories, Rude help me out here, what I'm saying is true, right?"

Rude nodded in confirmation and John's reaction was priceless, "No joke! Sign me up to your team. I want some action and this wacko trainee sounds interesting, _more interesting_ than a computer nerd." This last comment pointedly aimed at Tabby, who pretended not to get the hint.

Rude quietly agreed, if he was going to miss out on some sleep he'd much rather do it tracking down the redhead that looking for this mysterious Reno, at least he knew the former existed.

There you go Reno's grand arrival, I know could have been a lot better but I'm not sure how to improve it so hopefully my next chapters will be better please tell me what you think your opinions are very helpful and valuable!

More Reno in the next chapter!


	5. Shades

Title: When Rude Met Reno  
Authoress: Vitalini  
Rating: T  
Summary: Its not easy being a Turk, but what does it take to become one? While Rude is discovering what it really means to be a Turk, Tseng finally thinks he's found a way to calm a certain redheaded devil causing havoc in the Turk department. Join Rude and many new faces as they come to face the reality that is ShinRa.

Warning: Violence and language if there is anything else I'll warn you about when it comes.

Disclaimer: I only own any original characters and the fic- everything else belongs to me as much as the empire state building and the really worrying thing is, is that I have no idea where or what that is, yes I'm that clueless

Author's note: I was very disappointed with the last chapter, namely because Reno didn't get a very justified entrance, he deserved better entrance than that! I wasn't happy that I didn't give him enough lines so he wasn't as funny as I'd hoped, I have too many characters seriously but they all have there parts and I can't get rid of them, you have no idea how hard it is to kill off characters, well you may do but I'm not used to it. Anyway, I hope to redeem myself with this chapter and rid myself of the disappointment of 'Red'. So here it is ...'Shades' Chapter 5

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Rude strolled calmly passed the miles and miles of vehicles, all property of ShinRa and possible the greatest collection of transportation devices he'd ever seen. However, he had not come down here to admire the collection. Though it was impressive, the variety was startling and many just screamed style at you.

He wasn't really meant to be here, he wasn't even a Rookie according to the higher officials since they failed on the last mission, (for reasons that weren't their fault.) They had be given another mission, which the successful completion would _then_ grant them Rookie status. Trainees weren't even allowed to touch one of these inspiring works of traveling art, because that's what many were, they just begged to be used, but he obediently kept his distance.

He wanted time to think, alone. With his four friends whom until recently he'd call his tagalongs he just couldn't get that.

Last night he'd been restless, thinking about the mission. Wondering if they'd stayed on the top floor a bit longer and just waited for Marko to get caught; then moved in to save them and take the Target would they have to do yet another task. He'd never felt like such a failure.

Not even when his surrogate father had died in his arms and he'd for a brief moment felt that if he'd been there then he'd still be alive and they'd still be working happily in the shop together by day and sparring by night. That illusion had been quickly squashed, as he was mere minutes later fighting for his own life. He had little control over the situation then, but this time it was his decision that had gotten him, Jim and Lithia caught. They insisted it wasn't but he knew it was.

He'd sneaked down to the lowest levels of the ShinRa building which turned out to be were the company housed most of its wheeled transportation needs. The boats, trains and aircrafts were obviously not stored down here though he had seen a helicopter or two during his long and winding travels. They'd all been neatly arranged, so rows and rows of the same model were together and they were part of a overall department that specialized in a particular vehicle, most floors included there own repair offices and large elevators brought new designs or anything else they'd been making from above down to storage to be someday used.

He'd been walking along these vast rows of sleek cars, trucks, vans, skateboards etc for hours. There were about 20 floors below ground level, he had taken the shortcut, and not wandered down the vast rabbit warren, he'd kept to the main path as it were, climbing steadily upwards. So by the time he reached the motorbike section, it was getting near the time he had to report for said new mission. He wasn't looking forward to it.

He admired the machines on either side of him, humbled by their size and sheer bulk of some while intrigued by the slender and lighter models. It was easy to tell which type of mission each had been designed for, no one in their right mind would go on one of those delicate things if they planned to travel any great distance or challenge a dangerous target.

Stopping he pulled out his eye drops before proceeding to squeeze the fluid on to his eyes. They'd been bothering him far more recently, so much that he'd taken to carrying the medication round with him permanently. That last mission had been dire, for his eyesight anyway. It was perhaps his most glaring weakness and he hated it as much as he hated failing.

Carrying on he heard the faint sound of another vehicle coming in, he had gotten use to it but now he was nearing the ground floor it was clearer. It was difficult to distinguish what type of machine it was, do advance was the stealth technology crammed into these vehicles that to identify one from the other by the sound was nearly impossible.

He didn't speed up, many Turks and even SOLDIERS had walked passed but none had paid him any heed. The noise kept getting louder, but again he didn't see this to be significance, still occupied with his own inner turmoil.

Suddenly the bright glare of headlights and the furious engine of a motorbike sounded directly behind him, so close that without thinking he dived out of the way, between the nearest bikes. Scrambling up off the floor he was vaguely aware of the offending bike shooting passed. Wondering how it had gotten so close, so fast and cursing the moron of a driver, he got up and stormed on.

Ahead, further up along the row of bulky motorbikes he saw the bike turn into one of the empty spaces. It wasn't that far and he found himself speeding up, a mad idea of confronting the idiot who nearly gave him a heart attack buzzing in his head.

As he got closer and the scare wore off he slowed down, realizing he was just as much in the wrong since he wasn't supposed to be taking a leisurely stroll in the company car park. He could see the driver a little better now. The motorbike was still humming softly beneath them as the lights continued to blaze. The ever present smell of mako fuel increased dramatically as he nearer the exhaust.

There was something disconcertingly familiar about the driver, who's face was fully covered by the protective helmet. He passed with out a scene, said driver fiddling with this and that of their bike. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the driver reach to take off the head garment but didn't stop, finally worried that he'd be recognized as a trainee and get reported.

"Yo where you going in such a hurry?"

He froze; it couldn't be could it? Swiveling round he watched slender hands fully remove the head protection. Blood red ponytail falling down behind his back, messy locks even more ruffled. He realized what had been so familiar now, the ridiculously sloppy uniform and slender form that was dwarfed by the huge motorbike he had driven in.

"Fancy meeting you here, yo."

Red finally turned to look at him fully, large pilot goggles covering his eyes and the shades still on his forehead, the sight was so comical that he was fighting to keep a straight face. Red, ignorant that he looked even crazier than normal smiled goofily while pulling the goggles off.

"Gonna say anything, yo?"

He didn't really know what to say, this was the last person he'd expected to run into and of all places. Yesterday, as he had been dragged all over the building with his friends who were looking for that Reno person, he had taken the opportunity to search for Red. He'd wanted to thank him for saving them but the redhead was no were to be found, he even looked in the academy when they got back but no one had seen anyone fitting the young man's description and many looked at Rude as if he was crazy. That had struck him as odd. Despite himself, he could only be suspicious of Red right now.

"…where have you been?"

Red blinked at him, taken aback by the question, and Rude had to admit it had been quite out of the blue even for him. Nevertheless, he was curious as to why Red was outside the ShinRa building and on a company vehicle no less.

"Around, yo" the younger mans voice was reserved, causious of Rude's questions.

"Trainees aren't allowed to use these vehicles" yes he was being _very_ friendly, but he was kinda ticked off about being nearly run over. Then again, this person had saved his life yesterday, so he wasn't about to report him. On the other hand, he wasn't one to bend the rules…usually but his offence wasn't half as bad as Red's were trainees allowed to drive these vehicles? These vehicles looked far more complex than the ones they used in the academy.

"I passed my mission, yo," Oh course as far as he was aware only his unit had failed, so everyone else were qualified Rookies but still they had to be trained to use _these_ machines.

"Have you been trained to drive that?" he had to ask, though he was more polite about it.

"…not really yo, kinda picked it up as I went along and – what's with all the questions yo?"

"…" _not been trained! How can he be so relaxed about it? He's crazy…mental…_

"…" _Why is he staring at me? Should I say something? What should I say? _

He wasn't liking the awkward silence stretching between them, he'd managed to start off on the wrong foot. Curse his mood fits. He liked Red, despite the strangeness and hardly knowing him, he was attracted to him… but not in that way! He was a novelty and as Lithia said an oddball (though it wasn't his place to comment on Red being cute, but there you go). Rude found the mysteriousness in a just a unique form so refreshing that he was enticed. Now that he had the chance, he wanted to know more about the world, and Red had become a sudden subject of interest since the moment he saw him. He was everything Rude wasn't and that only intrigued him more.

Unfortunately at the current moment of time Rude was unable to arrange his thoughts in such a logical order nor make out the feelings inside of him, which was beneficial since that would freak him out even more then he needed to be. ShinRa was proving to be less simple then he'd originally thought and he wasn't even official part of it yet and then there were these strange new people. He was starting to wish he'd developed better social skills.

"Wanna start over, yo?" Red didn't seem at all bothered, as he fiddled with his helmet, putting it away somewhere. It was like he'd brushed Rude's inquires to the side and forgotten all about them.

Surprised he looked up and noted how Red looked just as awkward as he did. He nodded.

"Great, yesterday was pretty hectic huh?"

"...yes" that was a rather swift change; Red said it as if they'd been talking about that all along.

"Your really not much of a talker, yo"

"…sorry – I – erm…" Rude

Red sniggered a little into his hand, and adjusted himself so he was sitting sidesaddle in his seat, leaning forward.

"So what's your name anyway, yo?"

"Rude"

"Right, Rude, okay yo…."Red appeared to pull a face and he mused for a moment "what's with the names?"

"Pardon?"

"Well you know, Robin, Jim, _Rude_, not names you'd expect yo." He was surprised how serious he seemed to be over a little thing like names; in his opinion, Robin was a perfectly fine name. Sure,_ his_ was a little different but it was better than his _actual _name by far and Jim's well that was, he supposed, nice and simple so nothing wrong with it.

"And Red is?" He challenged a smirk of his own showing. He did not imagine it was very clear since it was quite dark down here, except for the lights of the motorbike, which Red had left on, possible to see him better.

"…Touché well its better than Rude, yo. But ya wanna know something?"

"What?"

"Its not my real name, yo."

He was slightly confused by this only because it had been a superior refer to him constantly as Red, and he'd always known any superior to speak formally, but at the same did it made sense, naming your child Red would be really peculiar.

"Is that your nickname?"

"Yeah, well one of them anyway, yo. I got loads; most people call me whatever they want." Rude found this a little odd since his experiences indicated most people didn't bother with nicknames.

"I see….so what's your real name?"

"Wouldn't you like to know yo?"

"That's why I asked?"

"Sorry, yo but that information is classified on a need to know bases…and you don't need to know, so nya"

"I don't?" he wasn't impressed with having a tongue stuck out at him. If he was this difficult with everyone no wonder people called him whatever they felt like.

"Why would you yo?"

"…so I know what to call you in the future."

"…what would ya call me yo?"

"Come again?" he was getting a little tired of this game, but he played along hoping Red would reveal his name and he could leave satisfied about solving one mystery.

"Well if ya could call me anything what would ya call me?"

"I'd call you by your name."

"But what is my name yo?"

"I don't know because you haven't told me"

"So what would you call me now yo?"

"Irritating"

"Why, yo?"

Red was clearly enjoying himself. If that rather gleeful smile was anything to go by furthermore it had changed into another snigger at Rude's reply. Knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere with this, he decided he'd change topics.

"What are you doing here?"

"Giving up already, yo your no fun!" Red pouted.

He hadn't been expecting that, it was like talking to a five year old. He noticed a soft thudding noise and removed his eyes from Red's face to see him bouncing a small rubber ball in one hand. He did his best to stop his jaw dropping and silently wondered how such an infantile person could have gotten through that rigid exam system.

"Why are_ you_ here, yo?" Red had not given up playing his little game. For a weirdo he was persistent and determined, Rude would give him that. Unlike Red, he did not have all day to play mind games.

"Just going for a walk before my next mission." He replied not really thinking, slightly caught up in the hypnotic bouncing ball.

"You're going on a mission to, yo? Well since ya _so_ interested, I went out for drive to clear my thoughts, yo. That's much better than walking in this stuffy place."

Tearing his eyes from the ball, he gave Red a surprised look, "you already have another mission?"

Red stared at him blankly and it was while before the redhead replied, "…yeah. Anyway looking forward to chance number two, yo?"

"Not really"

Red snorted, "Not surprised yo, your last was way more exciting."

"I'd hardly say that."

"Huh?" Red caught the ball one last time and pocketed it, perhaps finding the conversation slightly more interesting.

"We failed and if we keep this up then I'll never be a Turk." Rude allowed the bitterness seep into his words.

"It's not like it was ya fault yo."

"Really?" he could not believe that, the more he thought about it the more he could see ways they could have avoided capture. It is true what they say hindsight is a wonderful thing.

"Okay, look at it this way yo; life ain't no fun if you always see the glass half empty with your wrists bleeding."

"…" _how was that going to help?_

"Basically, ya just gotta wrap your cuts up and savior what ya got, yo … in short move on."

"That's easier said then done."

"Cause it is yo, wouldn't be advise otherwise. Anyway when was ya mission again?"

He paused for a moment trying to remember, "… 18:00 hours we had to report back"

Red raised an eyebrow, "Really? I'm gonna be late yo, mine's the same time."

"WHAT?" He felt his heart bash against his rest as he stared at his wristwatch, he had 10 minutes, until he had to be back in the training area. He would never make it. "I'm going to have to go."

"Whatever, yo" Red smirked, giving him a sleepy dismissive wave.

Rude turned and ran as fast as he could to the nearest elevator. When he was almost there he felt a tug on his sleeve and look round. To his surprise Red was behind him and not an official. He stopped even though he didn't want to.

"ya got a eye problem right?"

He had _stopped_ him just to _ask that_; didn't he realize they had to be going urgently to their respective missions? Still he reclined his head, he could not really deny it but he was quite touché when someone pointed it out.

"Here have these yo, I don't need them…well not as much as you." He laughed a little to himself. Rude watched as Red pulled the shades off his forehead open mouthed. Before he knew it, they were being pressed into his palm.

"Wait… why?"

"I don't need them, yo." He smirked and if to emphasis his point he pulled out the pilot goggles from his pocket and put them on in replacement of the sunglasses, they easily propped up the hair that had fallen over his eyes. The googles were far bigger but suited him more Rude thought, but still he couldn't accept these.

"I can't-"

"Don't argue, yo." He smiled at him and began to walk back, leaving Rude beyond confused and still clutching the shade, not sure what to do with them.

"What about _your_ mission?" he called after the Rookie.

"I'll be there, yo. Just gotta fix my bike." He looked at him and smirked as he casually strolled back to the vehicle as if he had all the time in the world, he flashed him a peace sign and then added, "what about you, yo aren't you going to be_ late_?"

…damn.

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Well there you have it more Reno or Red. Yeah rubbish nickname but lets say Surph isn't very inventive though that's just my excuse.

What did you think, good, bad, ugly, disastrous, catastrophic… etc. I really need to think more about Reno's and a lot of others as well they're not going across strong enough are they?


	6. Second time lucky

Title: When Rude Met Reno  
Authoress: Vitalini  
Rating: T  
Summary: Its not easy being a Turk, but what does it take to become one? While Rude is discovering what it really means to be a Turk, Tseng finally thinks he's found a way to calm a certain redheaded devil causing havoc in the Turk department. Join Rude and many new faces as they come to face the reality that is ShinRa.

Warning: Violence and language if there is anything else I'll warn you about when it comes.

Disclaimer: I only own any original characters and the fic- everything else belongs to me as much as the empire state building and the really worrying thing is, is that I have no idea where or what that is, yes I'm that clueless

Author's note: I appear to have accidentally copied some of NarcissisticRiceBall words and wit in earlier chapters accidentally or come dangerously close (. I am really sorry and when I find them I'll change them, your story was so good I must have had it on the brain when I wrote it, I should be more careful….my sincere apologies about that! Ah cannot believe I did that!

By the way: THANKS FOR OVER 1000 HITS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I am very happy and thank you to all those that have reviewed and pointed things out to me, its really helpful! Please enjoy the next chapter of Rude's adventures.

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Standing alone in the bright lift, Rude idly stroked the dark shades with his thumb. The eye drops were still working so the lights didn't bother him. He wondered how the glasses were supposed to help; Red hadn't exactly explained or really given a proper reason for giving them to him. He was still shocked that someone he hardly knew had presented him with something that was obviously precious to them. The redhead had seemed slightly sad to part with his sunglasses. He wondered if he should give them back but that'd just be rude (no pun intended). What was he meant to do with them?

He looked down. He'd been annoyed and apprehensive about the mission, but now that had lulled to the back of his mind since "bumping" into Red. It wouldn't hurt just to try them. Opening the shades up, he examined them. They weren't anything spectacular, quite plain or maybe you'd describe them as sleek, nothing fancy of course. The shape was attractive and the sides weren't bulgy. He wouldn't look too stupid if he wore them.

Hesitantly he brought them up to his face. For some reason he felt that he would change in some way when he put them on, strange idea but it was just a feeling. Taking a deep breathe he closed his eyes and put them on. They were warm having held them tightly in his hand since he had been given them. They were a snug fit but comfortable.

He opened his eyes to a darker, clearer, though a rather limited world- but what do you expect in a elevator. His eyes cooled, if that made any sense. It was a pleasant sensation. He realized that if he wore these, or any pair of sunglasses he may never need his eye drops again. It was so simple, why he hadn't thought of it sooner.

The elevator pinged. The doors slid open and he stepped out. Glancing at his watch, he had five minutes to get to the training room. Maybe he didn't have to rush. People took a double take as he strode passed, he made an impressive sight. A tower of muscle accompanied with his constant stoic expression he looked far more intimidating then he felt and the new shades that only added to the overall image.

He reached the training room in time. He had rushed here and had to apologize to a few people because of it. Everyone else was already there, standing uniformly anticipating Tseng's arrival. They had swung round when he had opened the door, looks of disappointment crossing their faces. They must have been here for a while; there was definitely an aura of impatience surrounding them, which was perfectly understandable. Personally, he was just happy to be on time. The group got over their disappointment quickly, Marko gave him a swift disapproving look then ignored him but everyone else gave him a second glance. He guessed his new accessory surprised them.

Shutting the door as quietly as he could, Rude quickly walked over to take his place next to Jim. His smaller friend gaped at him, his mouth literally hanging open. Eventually Trent who was standing on Jim's other side shut his jaw. Rude did not think he looked that different or at least not enough to be gawked at like a museum display. Jim was just being his normal odd self.

"Nice glasses" the giant man commented. Unlike everyone else he seemed more curious than surprised and was eyeing the shades suspiciously. Rude frowned at his expression, it was one of those moments when he got the feeling Trent knew a lot more then he let on. Did he know they were Red's and if that was the case was he close to him? On the last mission, the redhead's voice had definitely excited Trent as if he'd _known_ something was happening in their favor just because he had been there. Then again, maybe he had just been happy that they were being rescued and that his call had been received.

"Something wrong?"

"Nothing they just look familiar that's all." He shrugged smiling, "Where did you get them? There quite fetching, I thought I might get a pair" Rude instinctively pulled a face at the big man's teasing he got enough of that from Jim and John. Giving Trent a quick look over he remembered to ask about the man's shoulder.

"Huh? Oh yeah – it's fine, I had a couple of potions but I have to go back to the hospital after this to get a final check over but if should be as good as new"

He nodded; it had been quite serious despite what Trent had wanted them to believe. Admitting that a few potions were not really enough, was the same as saying it could have killed him. Trent was like that, he would tell you what he wanted to tell you and you had to guess the rest, he was easy to figure out but then again there was the possibility that he was acting. Again, Rude got the impression there was more to Trent then he was letting on.

Funny how one nights sleep could bring up all those thoughts, seeing Red before that somehow clarified his thinking. Suddenly, He realized he hadn't thanked the younger Turk. He'd just have to do it later, if they came back that is, and then if he could find him again. Now in place everyone else had resumed to acting like statues, expecting Tseng's arrival anytime. The training mat spread out before him and exercise equipment hung from the walls, it all looked well maintained. No one was in here apart from them but the lights were on to light up the whole great expanse of a room. Rude wondered why they were meeting here. Seemed like an odd place to talk about a mission. The air was cold in the room, the air conditioning atomically switched on even when there were no sweltering bodies to cool. He shivered.

Tseng said he would personally view the situation for them, he wondered what that had meant. He got the impression by his voice at the time it would involve a lot of work, considering there had been an obvious information slip something that was definitely unacceptable. Tseng was running late. He felt a bit miffed since he had run to get here on time and they were steadily turning into icicles as they waited. Eventually the door opened but instead of Tseng it was the woman who'd shown them to the room the other day who entered. She looked as stern as Rude expected she always did and she was holding a file. She walked round to stand in front of them, nose stuck in the file. Guess Tseng was too preoccupied.

"Now," she suddenly barked snapping the file shut, "this does not usually happen but the department has decided to give you a second chance since circumstances you couldn't help prevented the success of your last assignment. Do not expect such leniency in the future though; ShinRa has no place for screw-ups. Mr. Surph has briefed me of the facts and I hope you appreciate that there will definitely be no second chances after this. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am" they chorused, taken aback by the small woman's sharp tongue. Her dark eyes examined them shrewdly. She turned calling to them as she did, "Follow me."

With that, she stormed from the room and began the long trek to the roof, muttering all the while that the training area was stupid place to meet. Rude thought that to, though it would be easier to get to since they'd been told to meet in the main building. She quickly boarded a plane and they followed suit. Silently they seated themselves. Rude wondered why she was so annoyed, was she angry with them? No one dared move lest she snap at him or her like an angry viper. The craft was smaller then the last, so they were sitting closer to each other and rude could practically smell the apprehension in their breath. Jim was particularly on edge, he had to go through the fear of screwing up all over again. Rude mentally vowed he'd do whatever it took to make this a successful mission. Trent was perhaps the most relaxed if not bored, though Rude had the feeling it was down to him being tired, judging by those heavy bags under his eyes.

"You're a quiet lot." Rude looked back at their superior, she appeared to have calmed down, she surveyed them analytically, eyes lingering on Trent's injured shoulder. She considered every possible factor and an injured member could bring problems no matter how simple the task, she knew this from experience.

"You confident about this mission?" She called out to no one in particular. No one wanted to bring on her wrath, despite her stature she was no doubt a formidable fighter and in her current mood she seemed likely to attack anyone that upset her. Rude could tell those hawk eyes were for observations in battle as they roamed their bodies looking for weaknesses. He wondered if she was always so prone to aggression.

"Why am I always stuck with the Trainees?" she grumbled to herself, leaning against the hull. It was light outside they were flying over the ocean. "Right were getting nearer so I might as well tell you what we're doing. Basically its just a little information gathering trip, you're going to split up and look around. We're looking for is this guy," she pulled out a photo from the file and held it up. "Ask anyone you can if they have seen him. Keep it low key and if _you_ happen to see him wandering round then apprehend him. Don't make a scene and don't use any weapon unless necessary. I want this to go smoothly. Right, I'll search with the injured hero, the rest can decide whether you go in twos or alone, anymore will bring too much attention."

Immediately Jim grabbed Rude, and Robin and Lithia looked at each other, guess Marko was all alone on this one. He didn't seem to mind. Trent appeared to be amused by something. No one felt like talking still feeling a little oppressed by the woman's overbearing presence but the mission sounded fairly easy. He was almost looking forward to it. Relaxing into the chair, he noticed this craft had a few more luxuries in it than that last. For one the seats were cushioned, the floor had a patterned carpet. This was not a fighter craft by any means. The plane was going unusually fast though, but the ride was smooth.

"Ma'am?" Trent bravely put up his hand, getting their superiors attention; he didn't seem to be at all put off by her irritated scowl.

"For goodness sake just call me Erharda, I'm sick of all this Ma'aming it's annoying. What?" Jim physically cowered away from her as she snarled at Trent who was sitting a safe distance away. Rude didn't think she was that scary just in a bad mood, so he gently pushed Jim off him. Robin was sniggering at Jim's inability at least to pretend to be brave.

"I was just wondering if this was an undercover mission." There was a silky innocence to Trent's voice as he calmly answered Erharda. She considered her answer for a while before huffing loudly.

"I might as well tell you more of the details, otherwise you'll be nagging me until we reach port," she straightened and steadied herself just as the plane began to tilt slightly, "It's not an undercover mission. I was going to go myself but looks like you lot will be tagging along which suits me fine since that means I can get home early but do not be a bunch of nuisances. We are going to land in the sea, board the waiting boat and go into port. Our location is Costa del Sol, so no frolicking about because of the weather." Lithia pulled a face at this and Rude wondered if she'd ever frolicked before, she was caring but unlike Jim she was very efficient and had a serious edge to her. "We'll meet back at the port by sunset and return. This is just information gathering so ask anyone and everyone but keep it low key as I said. Here," she pulled something from the file and threw one at everyone. Jim flinched when the small photo poked him in the eye having realized to late that she had efficient aim. Rude studied his own, it was just a copy of the photo she had shown them earlier. The man in the picture was tanned with curly black hair, the most distinguishing feature were the pronounced side burns. On his neck as a swirl tattoo, that reminded Rude of a whirlpool unfortunately the photo didn't show it very well.

"Why are we looking for this man?" Trent continued to question, Jim- nursing his reddened eye- lent away from her again, just in case. However, this time she smiled.

"Glad you asked, there's been some strange activity going on there, we believe he's been illegally smuggling gold Chocobos from the area no doubt going to Materia Caves or such places. We want to know why he is doing this. As well as that, he is apparently behind a number of murders in the area, from reports; there are suggestions that he claims to be doing ShinRa's work. You can see where this is going. Well all we can do is find out as much as we can, we don't have enough to clarify anything but it'd be a real bonus if we could bring him in. He is supposedly in the area, hence I want it low key so we do not scare him off."

The plane tilted further and they began a rapid and unnerving descent. Rude had never been to Costa del Sol before, he'd only seen pictures and heard stories. He knew it was a very sunny place. It was quite a coincidence that he had just so happened to have been given sunglasses before going on a mission in a summer resort. Well at least he didn't have to worry about his eyes at all.

A load splash and violent jolt signaled the landing. He cringed as his insides slid back into place, couldn't the pilot be a little gentler? The crafted bobbed up and down with the waves like a boat. Erharda calmly walked over to the metal door, near the pilot's cabin, nodded her thanks and hopped out the open door. The rest stood up and followed. Rude noticed Robin wobble slightly, though Lithia steadied him. He must not do to well on boats, he was considerably paler then before and he seemed to go a deeper shade of green with every bounce.

When it was Rude's turn to jump, he finally saw the small boat waiting for them next to the plane. The driver was an old squinty-eyed man and when Rude took his seat next to him, he found he stank of fish. Whatever he smelt, he was experienced and Rude thanked the heavens it was a short journey. They nodded to the driver who gave them a toothless grin as he waved them off. As Rude expect Lithia was helping Robin who was doing well to keep his breakfast in his stomach.

It was so bright here, the sun instantly soaked into there flesh and he felt he would burn away. Speaking of burning he was sure the soles of his shoes were going to melt, the ground was that hot. A group of locals walked by in just sandals or bare foot their skin dark and glowing.

"You could have warned us, I'd have brought protection." Trent moaned already mopping his brow with the side of his sleeve. Meanwhile Jim was removing his blue jacket. Erharda scanned the area, ignoring them. Rude did the same. The place was peaceful. Children wearing nothing but swimsuits ran by kicking a football between them, laughing and hollering. The houses were what you would expect in a coastal resort with hot weather. He welcomed the warm zephyr breeze as it passed swinging the wooden signs that hung over shops. It'd be a nice place to go on vacation. Barrels were scattered about the place. A pair of three or four years old were observing them closely, most probably thinking what strange people they were, walking round in this weather in suits buttoned up to the collar. They were lucky to live in a place like this, he thought remembering his childhood, when sunlight had been a luxury. It was pleasing to see their carefree faces, if only there was more of that in Midgar.

Standing under the palm tree it was not so bad, there were plenty of them around and the sandy colored buildings were close together to provide more shade, not to mention the owners had wisely extended the roofs of their homes or shops making a sheltered pathway. So long as they stuck to the shadows it would not cause t0o much discomfort and if there were even just a slight wind that blew away the sweat from their skin they should not be too uncomfortable.

"Wonder how much weight I'll lose just through sweating," Jim asked cheerily. Rude shrugged, he wasn't particularly bothered but he thought he'd should raise the issue of possible sun stroke. Erharda signaled for them to move out. Taking Trent by the elbow, she led him east along the coast. Lithia and Robin gave a quick departing farewell and headed into a nearby alley. Marko was less pleasant.

"You, make sure **_he_** doesn't screw this up." With a pointed jab at Jim Marko stormed off along the west coast leaving them the only option of joining Lithia and Robin as they searched the town.

"Who shoved a palm tree up his butt?" Jim scratched his head, "no wonder John's got issues, having to live with **_that_**"

Rude chuckled as they headed off at a casual stroll they had plenty of time, "John doesn't have issues."

"You sure?" Jim asked as he casually examined some fruit until he got the attention of the store holder. After finishing questioning the man and in Jim's case purchasing some star fruit, he carried on, "John is sort of weird, in my opinion."

"You're as weird as he is." Rude stated flatly, John maybe more opinionated but Jim was one of those over the top people with strange tastes, the interesting shaped fruit he'd bought was a good example of that.

Jim whistled, nudging Rude to get him to look over at a bunch of young ladies walking past, dressed in rather revealing bikinis, one or two sporting thongs. Rude blushed and looked away, walking quickly in the opposite direction dragging his older friend away.

"Aww come on, just because we're working doesn't mean we can't check out a few girls while were here, I could have asked them about the suspect."

"You just want an excuse to talk to them." Rude did not look back. _Maybe it was time they went further from the beaches, maybe to the industrial side of the port_, he thought. Stirring Jim along with him headed down a side pathway. There were more shops and people here. Rude was pleased to see rather unattractive plumper older women were in the majority. Nothing like a good old chat with the residents to keep ones mind focused.

As they worked their way down the street making discreet inquires Rude constantly had to tug Jim away from the odd young woman here and there especially those that had partners. It was hard work but they gathered a lot of info. Locals loved to gossip, particularly the rather unattractive plumper older women. When he said not attractive, he meant more past the age which would interest Jim. The older man insisted that you only lived once, Rude wasn't having any of it. He relented sometimes to ask questions, keeping it strictly business.

It was hotter due to the mass of bodies circulating in one place but Rude was slowly getting used to it. The atmosphere was wonderful, people had a laid back relaxed manner reflecting the more easygoing life styles, keeping to the shade as best they could since Jim didn't have the wonderful sun protecting pigment that Rude possessed. That didn't mean he wouldn't get sun burn though.

"Let me get this straight," Jim began to summarize as they finally walked away from the thriving streets and down a path into the palm tree garden that Rude guessed separated the more ugly ship building area. A local boy said the path circled round the town and would lead them to the busy dock. "The guy is definitely here, he has been trafficking Chocobos and coming back from lengthy journeys with materia. That means he must be keeping it somewhere around here to store!"

Rude nodded agreeing with his partner's conclusion. It seemed likely after all the material store holder had more or less swore at them when they showed him the picture of the man but after calming him down and a quick talk in the back where they assured the man that though they were working for ShinRa, they were here to apprhend the criminal. After gaining the man's trust, he'd provided a lot of information that revealed a number of murders the town knew the man was behind but couldn't prove. Listening to the old store holder who had lost his wife and son because he had not co-operated with the man they were after, made Rude more determined to catch him.

The palm trees were labored with coconuts and the strong smell of ripened bananas hung in the air mixed with the thick fragrances of flowers and rotted leaves. A humid mist circulated under the canopy. It was stifling. Rude had no choice but to remove his jacket and loosen his tie. Naturally, this set Jim off on one of his crazy rants and teasing if Rude did anything out of character and undressing was something he had never done in public. Eventually Jim calmed down and returned to his thinking, processing everything over again in his head.

"Rude you're not gay are you?" Jim blurted out, "don't get offended but I was just, you know, thinking and well yeah…"

Having stopped in his tracks in shock, Rude stared down at Jim incredulously, "what made you think that?" it wasn't the first Jim Jim had accused him of being homosexual but they had established long ago he was straight, so he wondered what made Jim think that. They were on a mission so he wasn't doing it to persuade Rude to join him as he went in search for a girlfriend. Rude would like to note that these trips were so embarrassing to watch he would never go on another one again.

"Well you know you're not interested in the hot girls that are all over the place here, not even a little intrigued." Jim pointed out, walking around Rude, "I bet even Marko would take a little break, but you didn't even look."

"Excuse me for being focused on my work and not a pervert." The bald man countered striding up behind Jim. He didn't know why Jim found it so important to have a partner they were in ShinRa they had more important things to get on with, but Jim did have a persistent personality which unfortunately meant he didn't give up even when he should.

Jim sighed, as one would do if they were dealing with a idiot that didn't understand that two plus two made four, at Rude's reply, "It's not being a pervert, normal men like to look at hot girls it's a law, Rude. Even women know that."

"I'm not interested in that." Rude couldn't believe Jim could really be that shallow or narrow minded about such a topic, true he had never really considered it but even he knew that there was a lot more to someone then their looks, Tabby was a perfect example. Rude would like to blame the weather for Jim's ideas and current mood but that would be unfair on the weather. After all Jim was Jim.

"Yeah I noticed. Hey be careful," he ducked just in time to avoid being whacked in the face as the branch Rude shoved out the way came swinging back. "That's why I asked. On the last mission, you checked out that kid who saved us more than once. I know I gave him a look over myself since I didn't know what gender he was. But you couldn't keep your eyes off him." Since his taller friend had stormed further ahead, Jim struggled to match his long strides. He was running to keep up.

"I was covering him." Rude replied indignantly. He was really considering punching Jim right now. He was so stupid sometimes.

"Alright, alright could you slow down? There is no need to get all moody." Rude glowered down at him. He was not gay, just observational. True the redhead interested him but not in that way! Why did Jim have to be so dirty minded, people these days.

"Jim, I am not gay." He stated slowing down. Jim nodded sensing the clear anger in his friend's voice, but in all fairness, he had just been making an innocent comment, or at least he had thought so.

"By the way where did you get those shades?" Now they were walking side by side he tried to start casual conversation to make amends.

"From Red." Rude could practically see the shorter man's inner struggle not to make a suggestive tease or comment to that. Rude wondered if he'd mind, it'd just be friendly banter. Only trouble was he didn't have any witty comebacks like John, who was full to the brim with them.

Jim's self-control broke. "Having secret meetings with your little crush, are we now?" He was already high tailing it down the path no sooner had the words left his mouth. Rude hot on his heels.

They were exhausted by the time they reached the docks, Jim was grinning madly, mumbling about how mad Rude was, his voice hoarse from screaming. Rude gave him a final feeble push before straightening once he had recovered. Some workers paused what they were doing to stare at the pair, they certainly did not look like ShinRa's elite undercover force. This could work in their favor.

"Lets just look around, we have enough information." Rude whispered, pulling Jim away from a bunch of curious but dangerous looking men. They weaved their way through the clutter of cargo and barrels ready to be loaded into the ships. The wooden boards creaked under there feet and the green water sloshed against the support beams holding the landings up. The air no longer smelt of fruit and flowers, instead it reeked like fish just like the driver of the boat only ten times stronger. Rude resisted the urge to hold his nose as he maneuvered around the bustling workers. They were shoved out the way a couple of times.

Up ahead a pair of teens tried to balance a box that was excessively heavy for them. One was yelling at a small girl - who must have been his sister- to go away. As he tried to wave her off, he lost his hold on the box. Both teens shouted as they lost their balance. Rude instinctively raced forward and grabbed the falling box, stumbling as he caught the weight. The small girl cowered behind him, expecting to have been squished already. Carefully he stepped to the side, carrying the box with him and put it down to the side. Immediately one of the two teenagers began thanking him, the other was moving his sister before she was trampled. He waved away the thanks and carried on going; Jim had already moved on ahead and was waiting for him.

"I knew you were strong but _jeez_ I didn't think you were **_that_** strong. You eat spinach for breakfast?" Rude ignored Jim's comment and they carried on. Judging by what the locals had said the man's key operation took place at night, so logically he'd be lying low in the day time. They should check out the dock houses and such places. As they headed for the path that lead to these buildings, the people appeared to be warmer towards them, moving out of the way instead of acting like they owned the rotten wood that acted as a landing to their boats. Behind him, Jim returned friendly gestures to anyone who greeted them as they walked past, but once they reached the dock houses it was considerably quieter.

Strolling into the shady streets, the air instantly cooled. Seaweed clung to the boards that were used to support the dock houses on the sand. Further in, there were more dull wooden storehouses. Rude eyed the area suspiciously. Suddenly Jim yanked his sleeve, Rude was about to ask what the problem was when Jim place his finger on his lip, looking strangely serious. Following his companion, Jim led him back to an entrance they'd passed. The doors were swinging shutters like those in a western. Beyond the doors, they could hear angry muttering. Jim looked at him, gesturing as to whether they should enter or not. Rude shrugged, if they played their cards right they may walk away with some valuable information.

"Hey gramps," Jim called striding in; Rude prayed he knew what he was doing. Jim had been quite the talker with the locals in the town but Rude sensed they had to be more careful in this place.

"What do you want?" the man behind the counter barked at them, the place was empty but Rude could tell it was an inn of some kind. Jim unfazed by the less than welcome greeting waltzed over to the counter and faced the man.

"I just wanted to talk." He stated smoothly," You sounded pretty annoyed and since I'm a noisy so and so I was curious as to why."

"Keep you nose outta my business." Determined, Jim continued to sweet talk the man. Rude took this opportunity to look around. The floor was dirty but there were signs it had been open recently. It was most likely a place that sailors stopped for the night, the counter doubled as a bar and Rude noticed a few entertainment faculties such as darts and pool. The heavy wooden chairs were upside down on top of the tables that shined, having just been cleaned. The man was currently wiping a well-used rag over the glasses, cobwebs and dust clung to the ceiling and windowsills. It was a miserable looking establishment.

"Say, you ain't part of that ShinRa crowd are ya?" the man brandished the glass he was cleaning at Jim, his expression twisting into an angry glare, though it was hard to see behind all that hair on his face. Jim didn't respond, he was now sitting on one of the stools, resting his head demurely on his hand leaning against the counter.

"Listen pal, were just here to investigate claims about some dirty goings on in town, since it could upset the tourist business and we can't have murders going on without some inquiry." Rude breathed easily, somehow Jim managed to avoid committing them to a side. The mans face darkened.

"Aye, there's been some dirty going's on around here." he nodded solemnly and quietly went back to 'cleaning' the glasses. Five went through his meaty palms before he looked at them again, "don't suppose I could tell you something without getting into trouble could I?"

"Certainly, were only interested in the main man anyway." Jim encouraged him to talk, even offering clean tissues for the man to wipe his grubby face, lest he use the filthy cloth he hand in his hand.

"Well ya see, this fella been around a couple times, given me a handsome sum to keep this place closed for a night on occasion to have meetings, even taking my cellar and so on. Damn rat he is. Ya see I knew he was one o' those types, ya know the sort who are in ta illegal stuff. Didn't think much of it get a few o' those but he became a regular you see I ended up housing the base, didn't mind like so long as they caused me no trouble ya see. Anyway things got outta hand, like they began threaten people, bring 'em here to beat 'em up ya know. I didn't say not'in since it was more dan my life is worth ya see." The man paused to think over his next words. Jim was doing well to hide his excitement this was the best lead they'd had all day, "ta cut to the chase that son o' a sea turd this mornin' turn this place upside down, givin' me some nasty bruises hollerin' about somethin' or other goin' missun' and dat I'd let it loose. Had to close the place just to fix the damage. scared off all my custom he did! Though I wouldn't be tellin' ya this if I didn't know e was goin' to kill me when he gets back, don't cross 'im ya don't."

"I don't suppose you could tell us where he is." Jim asked hopefully.

"Yeah, he'll be in the warehouse about two from here, can't miss him and his lot, noisy idiots getting too big for their shoes and it's about time they got what's coming to 'em." He growled waving his glass as he told them the directions, "be careful, they say he's got ShinRa on his side."

Both Rude and Jim grinned when he said this, "want to know something gramps?" Jim asked leaning closer to the man and whispering.

"What?" His voice was a little uneasy as he leant back from Jim wary of his change in attitude.

"We are ShinRa. That guy isn't working for us and he's going to pay." Rude enjoyed watching the realization spread over the man's tanned face. He nodded slowly as they stood up to leave, Rude imagined he was struggling for a suitable reaction; the man was simply in a state of shock.

Once they were outside and out of earshot, Jim said enthusiastically, "How smooth was that! I am the man. Bet Mr. Wonderful couldn't pull off something like that." Rude allowed him to celebrate, since he had to say Jim was handling the whole mission with ease and confidence. They hurried to the building indicated, the sun was getting low and if they were going to be in with a chance of getting the man then they had better hurry. As the grubby innkeeper had said, loud voices echoed down the narrow passageways. Careful not to step in the stinking puddles that spread over the muddy ground they approached the building. It was like all the others, build of wood, but it was carelessly put together. It was as if someone had built it in a hurry and couldn't be bothered patching up all the gaps. As a result, they could see clearly through the walls, the bright setting sun provided enough light to see the people inside without any difficulty. The men, not much older then themselves were talking around a large truck. The man they were after was sitting on top of the trucks hood, listening to his men's bickering and jeering. They weren't close enough to hear exactly what was going on.

Crouching behind a crate, Rude continued to observe the targets. Jim was moving about next to him, he tried to ignore him but eventually his curiosity made him look down. Jim had smarted himself up considerably, he placed his bags on another smaller crate.

"Shall we spoil the party?" Jim asked, Rude wondered what happened to his bumbling friend. However, he was thankful that Jim had a plan, he just hoped it worked. Copying Jim, he straighten his tie and put his jacket on. The older trainee waited until he'd finished before standing back up, "Just follow my lead Rude." He grinned confidentially and casually strolled towards the entrance to the makeshift storehouse.

Rude copied the shorter man's laid back but serious air. As the walked boldly into view of the gang, Rude felt as intimidating as he looked- for a change. Once again, the sun bathed their backs as they stared the men down. The group had stopped talking and now looked ready to bolt or fight.

"Say partner, look what we got here." Jim drawled, like the hero cop or investigator you see on crime shows did. Rude grinned maliciously for effect. "Mind if we cut in your little gathering we need to chat with your leader."

Jim causally walked towards the group, one hand going into his jacket. Two of the men bolted, the others moved uneasily but the target just watched them with a bored look on his face, "what do you punks want?" he called down. Rude noted he had a thick accent.

Removing his hand from his jacket, Jim shrugged, arms open in exaggerated not-bother gesture. Rude felt like applauding his acting capabilities, but kept an eye on the opposition in case they made any sudden movements, Jim was leaving himself wide open, meaning Rude had to watch both their backs. "I just want to talk to you. In private."

"Not goin' to happen." The man replied a smile on his face, "What type o' scum do ya think ya are, thinkin' ya can waltz in here and talk ta me like that."

Jim seemed to consider this, frowning. "I thought we were buddies?" he finally asked. Rude wasn't the only one perplexed by this and he doubled his prays that Jim wasn't going to mess this up.

"What ta ya mean buddies? I never seen you in my life." The man jumped down from the truck and walked toward them, feeling confident since he had the numerical advantage. His sandaled feet grated against the sand that had blown. He was lean but muscular; a blade was tied to his left leg. Jim didn't move back as he approached, keeping up the confident façade.

"Well weren't you that one to say you were doing work for ShinRa?" Jim calmly stated. This caused the man to stop in his tracks; the rest began to back away, the meaning of Jim words finally penetrating their thick skulls. Jim grinned fiendishly, "Guess we're not pals then. Too bad for you."

The loud cracking of Rude's knuckles was a nice touch and the gang quickly fled leaving the leader standing undecided whether to fight or flee. He chose to flee but it was already too late. Rude launched after him, easily catching the man. He dodged the expected counterattack and grabbed the wrist holding the knife, snapping it with a quick twist. The man yelled out in pain but Rude quickly silenced him with a quick chop to the back of the neck, effectively knocking him out. Shouldering the unconscious body, he went back to Jim who had pulled out his gun.

"Let's go back."

The journey back was faster then they'd thought it would be. People stared at them as they raced by, many jumping out of the way. The few that realized who they had cheered or whispered excitedly to the people near them. Rude just wanted to get back before Erharda burst a vein in rage, since they would be late back no matter how fast they ran. His burden slowed him down and like most of the men here, he smelt of fish, the cheap cologne only making the stench worse.

"Where the hell have you been?!" They were not even able to make out the forms of their group in the distance when they heard the superior's voice calling over to them.

"Jeez, how loud can you get?" Jim huffed as he ran beside Rude along the coast. The sky was already a navy blue, the stars glowing as they hung above them. Their heated bodies welcomed the cool breeze. Trent was waving happily, one hand resting on Erharda's shoulder, possibly to stop her leaping out and tearing them to pieces. Lithia was leaning against the palm tree while Robin sat on a barrel, they too smiled as Jim and Rude approached. Rude couldn't see Marko anywhere.

"What have you got there?" Robin said, finally making out the large lump Rude was carrying. The others moved forward and by the time Jim stopped, panting like a dog Trent was already taking the man off Rude.

"Nice one." The giant man beamed slapping the two on the shoulder with such force Rude's already weak knees buckled. Jim just collapsed on the floor. "We can't say you were late for no reason, you've just saved the department loads of time."

"Indeed," Erharda was trying to hide her pleasure but the tell tale signs of a smile gave her away, "The information gathered should also give us plenty to ask this man. Okay everyone lets go." Robin helped Jim to stand up again, since he was perfectly happy to stay on the floor.

Marko was already sitting in the boat, looking sour faced and annoyed. He glared at Jim and Rude when they sat opposite him. Well they did as he had said, they hadn't screwed up. They chatted all the way back, Lithia and Trent teasing Jim about his shopping bags until he showed them the contents. It was nice to relax; Robin stretched along one of the benches, his head resting on Lithia's lap as he breathed to calm himself. She did not seem to mind, now the work was over she was being as friendly as ever not to mention she was being sensitive to the small mans seasickness. Rude smiled lazily, they would be back soon and for once, he couldn't wait to report. Mission complete.

Tseng reaction had been as they had expected, calm but pleased. After congratulating them on their success, he instructed them to meet in the common room in the main building at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning and to bring the hand written report of the mission. Then they were dismissed.

"I just want to hit the hay, why do they have to give us paper work to do?" Jim moaned as they exited the office.

"Quit complaining, rookie." Erharda snapped behind Jim, causing him to jump, "you don't even know what paperwork is yet."

The way she said it sent shivers down Rude's spine, he envisioned a mountain of paper he had to work through in the future, she laughed at their faces all anger suddenly disappearing and she genuinely smiled. She wasn't so scary looking when she was happy, "I have an appointment with Surph to keep to, don't hurt yourselves." With that she walked away, finally leaving them in peace.

"You guys don't mind if I go see my pal now do you?" Trent asked.

"Nah, It'll be great for you to hang out now" Jim said, "by the way what's your friends name?"

"His name is Kyo." Trent answered and turned away, but stopped half way, "I forgot to tell you something."

"What?"

"You know all that stuff I told you on the first mission, well most of it." Rude nodded recalling the long explanations Trent had offered them so easily, "Well most of it was a lie, because I was the Turk assigned to watch over your mission… Have a nice evening." He smiled at them and hurried off, ignoring the shocked group of Rookies who stared after him with jaw hanging open.

"You have got to be kidding me." Robin blinked, transfixed to the spot.

"What the hell!" Jim blurted out in his usual grace. Rude wasn't as shocked, he'd gotten use to Trent being one of them but he wasn't that good an actor.

Lithia was the first to recover though. Taking Robin by the elbow, she stirred him along the corridor, effectively snapping him out of his stupor. Rude followed her lead with Jim. "I'm not surprised," She commented, "I had a feeling he wasn't an amateur, too efficient unlike us blundering idiots."

"You hardly blunder," Robin said as he moved himself into a more comfortable position to walk beside her, "Anyway now that's over with, I wonder if we'll be staying in these units or getting partners? Not that I'm keen to get rid of you guys, then again I wouldn't mind swapping that Marko guy."

It was then that Rude realized Marko had already left them, possibly before Trent had dropped the bombshell about himself. No big loss, and silently he agreed with Robin.

"Rude! Jim! Over Here!" the sweet sound of Tabby's voice called over to them. Looking round Rude spotted her and John standing in front of a large window at the end of the corridor, the green glow of the reactors shining through the glass.

"Looks like you'll be leaving us to." Lithia smiled, "don't worry we're meeting our group in the academy. Have fun."

"See you guys tomorrow, and Jim." Robin called backed as they turned down a side passage.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for the fruit." The pair disappeared around another bend, leaving Rude and Jim to join their friends. Who like yesterday greeted them as if they hadn't seen each other for a month. Then of course, they too had to rummage in Jim's bags.

"Cool Shades, can I try them on?" was the first thing John said. Rude reluctantly removed the glasses and allowed them all to have a turn wearing them. They were already a part of him now; taking them off made him feel naked.

"They suit you Rude." Tabby complimented handing them back, "it's like they complete you."

"Guess what you two missed today," John grinned devilishly as he always did when he knew something they did not or when it involved terrorizing a certain sensitive woman.

"Shut up John. Don't you dare!" Tabby wailed, futility trying to clamp her small hands over his mouth.

Managing to trap her hands John delivered his news, "Tabby went out on a date! You should have seen her, face as ripe as a tomatoe and –"

Tabby now free immediately jumped and wrestling her torturer to the ground, effectively preventing him from revealing anymore of her personal affairs. Jim and Rude quietly watched the struggle; it never failed as entertainment watching these two fight. It was quite amusing to see John get beaten up by a girl. After a few minutes Rude decide it was time to separate them before any real damage was done. He easily tore them apart; once he put Tabby down, she instantly went into her own version, "It wasn't a date. I bumped into Mr. Lyons and he asked me to join him for lunch that's all."

"Okay, Okay. Calm down. We all know how John likes to scandalize every innocent activity that we do. Speaking of tales, do I have a story to tell?"

Standing up and neatening his ruffled suit John inquired as to what Jim was rambling about this time, which of course was just the invitation the older Rookie wanted. "Rude didn't get those glasses on the mission. He got them from that crazy trainee we were telling you about yesterday."

"_Really_," Rude didn't know if John was faking interest or not, "your not trying to replace us are you with new friends are you?"

Rude shook his head a smile on his face. He'd never replace them. Certainly, Jim and John's antics could be a handful, but there was no one's company he enjoyed more. As Jim went down one of his long stories Rude allowed himself to zone out. It still hadn't sunk in yet that he was no longer a trainee; it hadn't really been finalized yet, what had he expected a celebration or something? Come to think of that he needed to find Red to thank him. Thinking over what John had said he wondered if he'd end up as Red's friend, he'd like that Red was interesting and part of the reason he'd joined the Turks was to get out of the mundane. He was looking forward to tomorrow either way, slowly the voice of Jim penetrated into his sleepy thoughts.

"I know that, but its one of the few teasing remarks that I have that Rude responds to." The older trainee sighed, "Okay you guys want to head back now?"

Tabby nodded, stretching. They filed down the corridor in sleepy silence. Turks that walked passed eyeing them, knowing them as Rookies. They had a long way to got before they were really Turks, but whatever it took Rude vowed he'd do it and so far he was right on track.

**A/N: should I put this sign here? I think I will in the future I would like to thank my dad for proof reading this, instead of doing his jobs around the house hehe…The seperation line has gone walkies so that's why this is in bold.**

**Pariswriter I hope you are well, I have not heard from you but I wish you the best of luck with everything! .**

**Thanks for reading**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**


	7. Closet

Title: When Rude Met Reno  
Authoress: Vitalini  
Rating: T  
Summary: Its not easy being a Turk, but what does it take to become one? While Rude is discovering what it really means to be a Turk, Tseng finally thinks he's found a way to calm a certain redheaded devil causing havoc in the Turk department. Join Rude and many new faces as they come to face the reality that is ShinRa.

Warning: Violence and language if there is anything else I'll warn you about when it comes.

Disclaimer: I only own any original characters and the fic- obviously, apart from that I own naught

Author's note: This is perhaps one of my better chapters It is quite serious but that's okay since I'm not good at making people laugh cries. The good news is my dad seemed to like it and thanks to everyone's advise I am improving! I also combined two chapters together when I wrote this but the file was so big I had to split it up anyway, though I'm not sure if that was the problem since it wouldn't let me post it even when I did that 0.o.

Yay it finally loaded up, I've been trying to get this to appear for the last few days and it wouldn't

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The lights gently hummed over his head as he strolled down the corridor. Rude was currently under this strange isolated sensation where he knew he belonged to this place but at the same time did not feel part of it. Maybe he needed a new suit.

He'd 'run' around the building once already with the others but they'd restricted themselves to the more common areas to explore, so he'd only been here and there in the massive complex, which had been more than enough to satisfy their curiosity or it was when they came across some rather sinister looking labs. From what he had seen of the building there was not much to it. There were plenty of small boring office spaces and in these crammed workspaces were groggy looking individuals catching up on paperwork or starting an early shift.

He didn't think walking around the building at the crack of dawn would do much to wake him up, but it was better than lying uselessly in his bed alone with his thoughts. On a positive note he could start mentally mapping the area so he'd be able to navigate in the future, he thought gloomily.

There were many training areas beside the one they had had to meet in yesterday. These places had been built with considerable space between them. He considered if they had particular equipment in each, there was a justifiable reason for having so much space taken up with training facilities that they had to squish hundreds of office blocks as one would sardines in a tin in the limited space left over.

He hadn't expected some of the things he'd come across, but in his current mood all he managed to do was bat a eyelash at such strange discoveries and move on. His steady footfalls crossed from carpet to metal, the muffled beats suddenly sounding loud and hollow as they echoed down cool corridors. He liked it when it was quiet it allowed him to think. That wasn't always a good thing, but it was good to think once in a awhile. There was always noise distracting his thoughts lately, bringing him back to the present.

He wasn't sure if it was a peaceful feeling that swept over him or just cold air, whatever, it was quickly dispelled when he realised he'd wandered back to those labs. A soft wailing came from behind a steel door, someone shouted, a door slammed and it was quiet again. On that note, he decided to head back.

It wasn't long before he was aimlessly travelling again, having forgotten to ask Tabby or John where the common room they were supposed to be meeting at was, he was reluctant to ask directions now. That could have been the cause of his sleepless night last night since he disliked uncertainty. He enjoyed adventure as much as anyone else did as long as he knew what was going on, he anticipated a bit of the unknown but when it came to something as simple as location, he considered that it'd be nice to know. Otherwise, what is the point of knowing the rest?

His drifting caught the attention of a senior. She could not have been much older then he, she was quite tall, her head just passing his shoulder. Her extremely long blonde hair had been drawn back in a high pony, a single bang covered her left eye. What caught his attention the most were her startling deep sapphire eyes, so vivid it was difficult to make out her pupils. Her abrupt appearance, (not her physical appearance but the fact that she had come right up behind him) had frightened him so, that he only remembered the end part of her directions. Okay and he had been slightly overcome by her stunning appearance as well.

Taking a left turn, he finally saw the pale beech door she had described. It was set apart from the offices by a small side entry. Doors led off to restrooms along the small corridors length. He went straight for the end door; his feet were starting to hurt now after three hours of walking up and down the same corridors. It was not surprising that he had so much trouble finding the place; the entry was hidden behind plants so that he had overlooked it completely.

To his surprise, there was already someone in the lounge area. Walking past the cushions seats and couches he headed for the bar at the far end as he cautiously approached the individual, the person looked vaguely familiar. As he got closer he realised whom it was, and stopped in his tracks. Reviewing his options, he could either retreat or sit down in the nearest seat. He paused undecided for too long. Tseng swivelled round in his chair to face him, wearing a kind smile.

"Your about early this morning." He stated casually. He ignored the hasty salute, too busy sweeping dust off his suit that had clung to it off the bar. "…Oh, at ease. Unless stated otherwise, of course."

Tseng patted the seat next to him and waited for the Rookie to sit. He decided to take this opportunity, perhaps to get to know the quiet man better. There were a number of promising rookies that interested him, he hoped he'd find a _permanent_ partner for the company mischief from this lot, but at the same time he was quite reluctant to put said mischief through any more pain. The redhead proved to be quite efficient on his own but things could not stay this way. It took Tseng a moment to remember that the bald Turk was now sitting next to him.

"Sorry, I was just thinking." Tseng spoke, his tone was detached and distant making Rude believe he wasn't saying it to anyone in particular.

Rude shifted uncomfortably in his seat, he did not know how to react. It was strange having a superior causally sitting and talking. True they were not really discussing anything, more like resting in serene stillness enjoying the tranquillity between them. You could even call it companionable silence if you wanted.

Gradually the room filled up, Rude recognised all newcomers as his fellow rookies, there were a few he didn't recognize, they most probably came from Lithia and Robin's side. Eventually his motley crew arrived. Tabby frantically searched the crowd of people. Now that they had arrived there were 21 people here including himself. As soon as she spotted her bald friend, she raced over, getting a few stares in the process. Not caring that he wasn't in the best position to be pounced on she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms round his neck.

"We were so worried about you!" she detached herself, neither noticing the looks they were getting nor the fact their superior was sitting less than a arms length away. Rude noticed Tseng softly chuckling at the scene though he had been amongst the few that had raised eyebrows when she had hugged him.

"Why?" He frowned; he did not see how he had done anything to cause concern, and he was not enjoying the attention. Sometimes he worried about her over caring nature. She had come from Rocket town, where the most exciting historical fact about the place was that it sited the first successful rocket launch into space. She had little idea what she was getting into becoming a Turk, as far as he knew she just wanted to make her parents proud. She could have picked a less risky career he thought.

"You weren't in your room when we came to fetch you and since you didn't turn up at the meeting point, we wondered what had happened to you." He stared blankly at her for a second recalling the last few words they'd exchanged the night before, he'd totally forgotten. Now he felt bad.

"Sorry, I got up early and ended up here." He glanced over to the other two, Marko was holding up John and Jim was waiting for him. He should have left a note or something but then he didn't think he'd end up here. He felt sorry for them; they looked as if they had run around the entire complex, knowing Tabby she most probably would have. "You didn't spend too long looking for me?"

Looking up he saw her smiling, "it's alright were not mad, and a senior told us that you were here so everything is fine."

By now, Jim and John had made there way over. Unlike Tabby, they noticed Tseng and saluted, "sir."

Tseng sighed when Tabby gasped and immediately stood to attention. It triggered a chain reaction and soon everyone except Rude was saluting. The second in command rolled his eyes. "At ease. Well since most of you are here, I might as well get Veld. There's no point waiting around." Calmly he stood up and passed the crowd of anxious rookies. They were an interesting bunch.

"You like friends in high places I see," John commented, eyes twinkling as he teased Rude, "getting pally with the superior eh?"

Rude shrugged, John could believe what he liked but he'd hardly call sitting next to someone and saying absolutely nothing was getting 'pally' with them. By nature, he didn't feel like commenting on why they were sitting together either. John did not pursue the matter already distracted with the other people in the room.

"There's so many!" Tabby exclaimed, once she had finished counting them all. He heard somewhere that a large number of the rookies this year were specially recruited and just had to be 'refined' as Trent so kindly put it at the academy.

He could not imagine this number normally being brought in all at once, unless something big must have happened. The company _was_ in the middle of huge war with Wutai now, there had been terrorist uprising since the war began, who were trying to get the company while a majority of its forces were abroad, and this meant more work for the Turks. Not to mention quite a few had been assigned reconnaissance missions in Wutai and _then_ they were _even more_ stretched because of whatever other plans the president had, it was not surprising ShinRa were recruiting as many talented individuals as they could. Last year an ex-gang Lord had tried to steal a ShinRa motorbike or something like that, Rude had no idea what the man had been trying to prove but he'd been brought down, quite brutally if the rumours were true by the hands of a young Turk, but instead of being punished he'd been offered a job. If that didn't tell people about the current situation the company was in nothing would. For the record and to complete the story, that man was apparently working hard to be the number one Turk but still had to beat the one who had caught him. _That story was brought to you thanks to, Jim_.

"I heard Tseng's got his eye on one or two of us; say he's got something big planned for them." Jim was again spouting more of his boundless knowledge. How he found out any of this was a mystery to Rude.

Further remarks were cut off when the door was suddenly burst open and slammed shut. Rude, along with everyone else turned to find a panting and even more dishevelled than usual looking Redheaded Turk. They stared as he pressed his ear against the door face twisted in concentration.

Abruptly Red sprinted across the full length of the room in a heartbeat. Rude felt the force of the wind left in the young man's wake press against him. As quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. Rude wondered if he showed up everywhere in this manner.

"_Jeez_, what was that about?" someone in the room said, voicing what most were asking themselves. Rude was not the only one left mouthing like a goldfish, no one could find a reasonable explanation for such behaviour.

Behind them a door clinked and Red's head popped into view, "you… didn't see…. anything, yo," he panted. A loud shriek pierced the air and in a flash, he disappeared again. Something was telling Rude that Red had something to do with that shriek.

For the second time that day the door became dangerously close to coming out of it hinges. "WHERE IS HE?"

The woman moved into Rude's line of sight. She was extravagantly dressed, sporting a rather revealing red dress that was more suitable for eveningwear than company attire. Her blonde hair, that was once immaculate as her clothes had been, was now in disarray, how they had gotten that way remained unclear. She was brandishing a red shoe threateningly at them, the heel hanging limply as she waved it around. Blue earrings swung madly at the sides of her face as she began searching the place, demanding to be told where the 'devil' had gone. No need to ask who she was referring to by that.

He guessed everyone was just too overcome to say anything since no one volunteered the information. She tore into the sofa, causing those sitting on it to leap out of her way. Next, she peered behind the curtains, chairs and even bookshelves, while emitting continuous growling noises. Steadily she worked her way up the room. Despite the fact she'd fallen from grace for the time being, Rude realised she must be a senior official. This complicated the situation; he'd much prefer being allowed to do something to control the volatile woman before she tore the whole place apart.

One rookie made the terrible mistake of standing up as she stepped across him. Immediately she turned on him, waving the broken shoe in his face, "**you** tell me where he went. NOW!"

The poor man winced as she all but screamed down his ear. He was a considerably short person and she towered over him, leering down until they were nose to nose. Slowly a shaking hand rose to point at the door they'd last seen the redhead go through.

"He's in the _closet_?" she straightened, smiling, wickedly to herself, "not the most unique of hiding places, I obviously expected better." Her voice- when it wasn't on maximum pitch and volume- rang with authority and contempt. Swiping her fringe back to the side she stalked towards the indicated door.

As her skeletal hand wrapped around the door handle, there was a collective intake of breath. Rude wasn't the only one curious about the outcome of this drama. As far as they knew, the redhead was trapped.

She opened the door, shoving it open all the way, so everyone could see inside. The Turk wasn't there.

She went in examining the small space, spinning this way and that, as if she expected him to jump out at anytime. She studied the shelves, her annoyance increasing. Finally her head snapped back to glare at the crowd of rookies.

"Trying to make a fool out of me too?" she yelled, walking out of the closet like predator advancing on its prey. Jim whimpered behind him, yesterday's confidence completely gone. John gulped and Tabby backed away. They were not the only ones eyeing the woman warily. Unable to do anything to stop her as she was a superior; all they could do was to defend themselves as best they could, without causing her any harm. "The company doesn't need any more Turk trash littering the place, I'm going to talk to the President about this and well see what he- Ah Tseng, so glad you finally arrived."

Her quick change surprised everyone, she almost sounded happy. Tseng strolled into the room eyeing the strange woman curiously, "something happen Scarlett?" His voice was calm and even but Rude detected a slight hint of amusement in the man's all too innocent tone.

"_Why_ in fact something has," she stated as if they were talking about something as casual to the weather. She seemed to have forgotten she had been ready to claw into anyone of them a second ago as she lazily breezed past them to stand closer to Tseng. "You've been letting your little subordinates run wild again, and I just can't allow it, especially when my most expensive dress is ruined in the process."

"My sincere apologies, Scarlett" Veld walked in behind Tseng, coming round to face the blonde-haired woman.

Scarlett's expression changed. Her red lips curled in disgust as she eyed the old Turk. When she spoke next, it was to the commander, and all the silkiness fell away, "Are you _incapable_ of keeping your brats in line? This department is more _trouble_ then its worth. Tseng I want your **_pet _**brought to me by tonight, I will deal with his punishment _personally_, since you're incapable of making a lasting impression. _I'll_ teach the little bastard a lesson. And if he doesn't come then I'm reporting this to the President." On that merry tune, she pushed her way past the two men and walked as dignified as one could while appearing to have been pulled through a hedge backwards.

As soon as she'd gone, Veld released a heavy sigh. "Tseng go get him."

The Wutai man nodded and headed straight for the closet, the door had swung back so it was slightly ajar. Tseng simply stuck his head inside, looked straight up at the ceiling, saying as he did so, "She's gone, come down."

There was a soft thud and the redhead appeared behind Tseng as the second in command went to retake his position next to Veld at the centre of the room. "We'll talk about this afterwards, stay put."

Red shrugged before flopping carelessly into the nearest armchair. John's face scrunched up at the young rookies actions. They had never seen someone act so disrespectfully and to the commander no less. Rude wondered why no one had said anything about it yet, indeed both Tseng and Veld were looking at Red but appeared neither particularly angry nor even annoyed. Tseng's amusement still lingered since he'd come in. The older Turk just just looked tired as he rubbed his forehead.

"Right," only then did Rude realised no one had saluted Veld's arrival but he didn't seem aware of this either, "Firstly I'd like to congratulate you all on successfully completing your exams and missions. Most of you have had to go through more than your fair share to get to where you are today, I hope that you will use your abilities to serve this company and learn from every ordeal you have faced in the past and in the future. I don't need to tell you this, but in this job there is no place for those who cannot cut it. Your job isn't the only thing on the line." A snort followed his speech; again, Veld chose to ignore Red's lack of discipline and carried on, "Secondly, you will not be called for duty until a few traditions are taken care of. However, I shall request your presence at five o'clock, tomorrow evening, here. In the mean time, what you do is up to you, though I would recommend you use some of the time to get your bearings. I think that is all, you are dismissed. Tseng, I'd like a word, if you please."

There was a moment's pause before everyone started to file out. The noise gradually increased. Rude didn't feel like going anywhere just yet, he was still tired having not slept well the past two nights. Tabby seemed eager to start exploring again but John plonked himself down next to Rude, sighing as he did so. They weren't going anywhere any time soon.

"Hey," he turned to whisper in Rude's ear, "know anything about that guy?"

He indicated to the back of the chair Red was still presumably sitting in. Jim saw John's gesture and saved Rude the effort of explaining, "That's the trainee we were telling you about."

John eyed the chair again and smiled. "Well looks like I was right about the crazy and suicidal part."

Tabby, strolled back to them not wanting to go alone. She had obviously heard their discussion as she added, "He maybe an oddball but I think he's kinda cute."

"Feeling's mutual, honey." Tabby visibly jumped when Red's voice called over to them. They had not realised the redhead had overheard.

Finding the stool uncomfortable now, Rude decided to move to the now free sofa. Standing up, he gestured to the others to follow. As he passed Red's chair he saw the redhead curled up, arms resting on the top of his knees as he examined his nails. He eyed them with bored curiosity, his bright irises gleaming under half closed lids. Red watched them as they went and sat on the squishy sofa before going back to his nails.

Beside him, Jim sighed contently a look on his face like a satisfied cat. He didn't look like he'd slept well the night before either. John and Tabby were being rather reserved, most probably embarrassed that their bold opinions had been overheard. Tabby was still blushing, she couldn't even hide her red cheeks with her hair since she'd tied it back into a short plait.

Red lost interested in his nails and stood up as well. For one scary minute Rude thought he was going to leave. Instead, he walked over, quietly sat on the glass coffee table, and stared straight at them. It was quite unnerving. He continued looking at them with thoughtful contemplation.

"Are ya just gonna sit here all day?" He said at length, his gaze wandered to the window behind them. He appeared disinterested but the question came out mildly amused.

"Er, no."

"'Kay." They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence again, but Rude's reply had caused a small smile to appear on the younger man's face. Red looked across their ranks some more, then at different things in the room. Rude couldn't help but compare him with a curious child, he was acting like a baby that'd been put into a room for the first time.

When Red shifted his goggles higher up, it reminded Rude that he needed to thank him. "Hey Red." The rookie swung his head round - he'd been looking at the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For saving us and for the glasses." Unfortunately, it came out more awkward then he had intended.

Slowly the smirk that Rude had seen so often on that pale face appeared, "They come in useful, yo?"

"Yes, particularly since we went to Costa del Sol."

"Told ya you needed them more than I did." He looked at Rude slyly, his tongue once again protruding between his teeth. Somehow, Rude did not mind at all. Suddenly Red stood up, stretched and began walking around the room. This allowed John, Tabby and Jim to exchange curious glances. The redhead was acting odd.

A soft thudding brought their attention back to the rookie. He was now standing near the chair he had been sitting in, while bouncing a small rubber ball in his left hand. Jim seemed to get over his uneasiness and finally spoke up, "Why are you doing that?"

"Cas I'm bored, yo." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. A few more bounces later Red spoke again, "You use guns right?"

Jim was taken aback by the sudden question but nodded anyway, "I see, yo. Think ya'll be as good as the legendary 'two guns'?"

"Who?"

Red gave him a funny look, "Odd ya haven't heard of him. Well you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him, they say he's got the fastest draw around, so you wouldn't even see him draw before ya dead, yo. Scary thought, eh? He was Don Corneo's underling for a while and he's gotta weird way of doin' stuff. Where did you all come from, yo?" He looked at them fiendishly after he'd said this.

"We all came from the academy," John spoke up, "we volunteered."

"Oh, so ya didn't tear into a whole load of people to save a friend, none a ya ex- detectives or mercenary or anything, yo?"

They shook their heads, not sure what the redheaded wanted out of them but he did look disappointed.

"Well my brother was offered a place because he was well known in our village for his sword skills." John offered a slight bitter tone edged his words.

"And ya just tacked along? Odd reason for joining, but it's better than mine, yo." Red tapped his chin in thought, still managing to bounce the ball at the same time, "Who's ya brother?"

"Marko."

"Who?"

"The tall one who was with us," Jim offered, "dark brown hair, grey eyes, muscular." Red continued to look at him quite blankly and Rude tried to think back to see if he'd said anything to Marko.

"The model" Rude stated. This didn't inspire any reaction for quite sometime but eventually Red responded.

"The guy who had his knickers in a twist, yo?"

John snorted at this, it may have been the way the young trainee had said it but John wasn't the only one holding back laughter. None of them particularly liked Marko since he was rather stuck up most of the time and he in turn didn't hold back his negative feelings towards them. Having Red- who was more or less a total stranger- so casually state one of Marko's shortcomings in such terms was delightful.

"You could say that." Rude nodded.

Red looked seriously back at John who'd controlled himself, "Hate ta tell you this but I think ya brother's an ass, yo."

Rude was shocked, the redhead hardly knew Marko but he already formed that opinion of him. Okay so Rude's wasn't much different but he'd been around Marko a lot longer than Red, unless they'd crossed paths at the academy or something. John was in fits.

"I thought I'd took that off you?"

"Not this one, yo."

Everyone, except Red hastily stood to attention when Tseng returned. He nodded at them, his humour returning somewhat, "If you'll excuse us."

Walking over to Red, he snatched the ball mid bounce. The redhead pouted but didn't stop Tseng.

"Can't I keep one, yo?" he sulked. Tseng ignored his complaining; taking hold of his elbow, he dragged him out the door. "See ya around, yo!"

Alone now the others found the full use of their vocal cords again.

"Well he maybe on the strange side but I like him." John concluded, settling back down into the sofa.

"You don't say? Well at least you know I wasn't lying to you about him." Jim lay down similarly to John. Tabby sank back too. Rude hesitated for a moment before doing the same.

"For once." John teased, earning himself an elbow in the ribs. "Hey Tabs, who do you like more, Rude, Lyon or that kid?"

A loud sigh could be heard from Tabby's end before she spoke, "What makes you think I like Rude or Red?"

"Ah so you _do _like Lyon then."

"…"

"I wondered how old he is, looks a bit too young to already be a Rookie." Jim pondered aloud, obviously not following the conversation.

"Don't know though there was someone else who was taken in from an orphanage when she was very young and trained at the academy. I think she was the youngest ever to become a Turk." Tabby informed her fellows earning raised brows; someone actually knew something other than Jim.

"Must be taking them in young then," John commented, "maybe it's getting like SOLDIER."

"Nah, otherwise they'd be hundreds of rascals running around." Everyone laughed at Jim's statement. It was pleasant just sitting here and talking. "You two, any luck finding that Reno character or have you finally given up?"

"Haven't found a single thing, he must be really reserved or something."

"She sounds so disappointed doesn't she?" John straightened, "Listen Tabs just give up looking, there is much more interesting stuff around than a reclusive smarty pants."

"I suppose your right," she got up to and looked down at the three men, "who fancies sparring?"

"Me!" Instantly John was on his feet closely followed by Jim. Rude took his time, wondering where they got their energy from….

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A/N: Okay so this wasn't exactly too serious but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! the rest is in the next chapter...


	8. Scarlett

Title: When Rude Met Reno  
Authoress: Vitalini  
Rating: T  
Summary: Its not easy being a Turk, but what does it take to become one? While Rude is discovering what it really means to be a Turk, Tseng finally thinks he's found a way to calm a certain redheaded devil causing havoc in the Turk department. Join Rude and many new faces as they come to face the reality that is ShinRa.

Warning: Violence and language if there is anything else I'll warn you about when it comes.

Disclaimer: I only own any original characters and the fic- obviously, apart from that I own naught

Author's note: The rest of the chapter! This is where it gets darker, you have been warned spooky music

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Making their way to one of the many training rooms proved more difficult than they'd thought, and they were soon walking in circles. Rude vaguely knew the way and after passing the same set of offices so many times that people were coming out to look at them, he finally took the lead. He struggled himself. but they made more progress and when he came to a familiar landmark, a rather large painting of their illustrious president, he knew where he was. After that, it took no time at all before they found what they were looking for.

The training room was packed, mainly with other rookies like themselves. There were a couple of seniors but they were training at the far end, slightly apart from the crowd of newbie Turks.

"Should we change?" Tabby asked, there were spare clothes to the side and judging that some of the people were wearing training gear that didn't quite fir them right, they weren't the only ones who'd forgotten to change before hand or bring something with them.

They split up to, and went into the designated changing rooms. They were quick. However, Rude was displeased to find the closest fit was a little too short. The next size up drowned him but this one was still ridiculously baggy.

"Think we'll find a space amongst this lot?" Jim asked, eyeing the crowd. There are some serious people here. He spotted Lithia and Robin in amongst them; they appeared to be taking on a slender dark haired man along with lanky _very_ tall men. They weren't getting very far, the man's defence looked unbreakable, even Rude couldn't see any blind spots. He watched as the lanky man went flying, crashing into Robin s they'd tried a team attack, _ouch. _

"Oh no," John moaned hiding himself behind Rude's broad back. It wasn't difficult to spot the reason for his sudden retreat. Marko stood in the middle of the mat, facing off against a man similarly built like Trent only a little smaller. He recognised him as Doug and beside him was Jordo. Jordo was of average build and strength, but it was his tactical abilities that made him a formidable fighter. Although he often fought through Doug who had the muscle power to back up the moves, as Jordo defended the larger man's weaker spots. They were an efficient pair and Marko's closest friends. Marko was currently displaying his spectacular swordsmanship. Rude had to hand it to the jerk, he was a great fighter, and it was not a surprise that ShinRa had asked after him. They stood a moment watching Marko parry and lunge, he used the flat side of his blade but it was still scary to imagine the damage he'd cause if he wasn't holding back. Rude recalled the man slicing through the guards on their first mission together, he'd been less graceful then.

"Hey, Rude!"

They turned to see Trent beckoning them over. Without hesitation Rude went to see what the large man wanted.

"Yes?"

"You and your pals want to spar with us for a bit? Looks a bit hectic down that end." He indicated to his sparring partner as he said this. Rude assumed this must be Kyo, and he _was_ on the thin side but he had defined muscles and as a martial artist Rude recognised his build was adapted for the Karate style of fighting, which the man had must have practiced since he was a child. Kyo swiped damp ginger clumps of hair from his eyes. Both were covered in sweat and panting heavily. It made Rude feel guilty being so fresh.

"Sure," he looked behind him, the others stood like a row of baby ducklings following their mother in his wake. They nodded, they couldn't really say no to the offer and it was nicer up this end anyway.

"Great!" Trent clamped them on the back, with a sweaty palm, "this is Kyo by the way and who are you?"

"I'm John and this is Tabby." Kyo nodded to each of them in turn, his face seriously eager to carry on; Rude liked him already.

After they'd stretched off while the seniors rested a bit, they took their positions, Tabby facing off against Rude and Jim against John. Tabby pulled out her simple staff as they circled each other. Suddenly she launched forward, twirling her weapon and going for a sidekick to his ribs, Rude managed to dodge. They moved around the limited space, dodging attacks as well as everyone else. It wasn't long before they sported some good sized bruises.

When Trent picked up his much lighter partner after deflecting a visious upper cut and accidentally threw him accidentally into Jim and John who were locked together as John tried desperately to disarm Jim, and then as a group they landed on Tabby as she was staggering to her feet, they decided to rest for a moment. Trent helped pull the squirming bodies apart, lifting Kyo off the rookies.

"Want to go again," Kyo asked, it hadn't even been five minutes but he was already on his feet. Rude noticed the determined look in his eyes and guessed he was someone that took any defeat seriously and had a furious desire to prove himself. Rude observed him curiously.

"I was thinking of going against one of the little ones next to see what they're made of," Trent said off hand taking a sip of his drink. Kyo's reaction was surprising to say the least. He completely freaked. Rude stared wide-eyed as his whole body bristled like an angry feline as he stared over at his larger partner who was taking care to ignore the ginger haired man.

"What the hell! You don't throw someone across a room and then run off to fight some rookies!" It may have been the light but rude could have sworn Kyo's pupils had slitted in his rage.

"Why not?"

Trent's laid-back reaction triggered a frustrated growl from the man but he appeared to be doing more to control his fury though his body was visibly shaking. Jim was edging away. "You have no honour or pride, do you?"

"Nope and in this business that doesn't even come into it. Street scum don't fight with honour or pride so neither do we, you've been a Turk long enough to realise that by now."

"So, doesn't mean we can't show a little mat etiquette while training."

"I bowed when I came on didn't I? Besides, if you practise it too much you get bad habits. I'm not bowing to some idiot that's got a gun pointed at me."

Kyo pulled a face at this. "It's not a bad habit," he muttered before turning to the rookies. "I'll take the gunslinger."

Reluctantly Jim got up and followed Kyo. Rude thought he'd be fine so long as he kept his distance, Kyo was fast but not that fast, if Jim could stay on his toes he'd wouldn't come off too bad. On the plus side, he was armed and though his ammunition had been replaces with pellets, they were still an effective deterrent. Those things hurt!

"So, little lady want to go against me?" Trent asked. John sniggered at the name since in this case Tabby already quite small looked minute in comparison to Trent. She bravely accepted, leaving Rude and John together.

"No holding back" John aid as they took their positions. Rude eyed the daggers in the man's hands, in the past that was all he'd had to watch out for but now John also had some martial arts under his belt, it wasn't going to be a simple case of just disarming him anymore.

They didn't even bother circling each other, John stepped in for a quick slash but Rude blocked it although he wasn't fast enough to grab John's wrist. Rude bided his time, blocking and parrying until an opening appeared. When it did, he kneed the small man in the gut, John's momentum working against him and he collapsed on the floor spluttering. Rude looked round to see Jim running for his life, Kyo yelling at him to "Get back here!" and Tabby, heroically though vanely, trying every possible move she could to take down Trent.

"Want to start again," John wheezed, starting to get up. Rude bent down to help him. He wasn't sure that was such a good idea, the combined force and John's weight, as he'd run head on into Rude's rising knee, couldn't have been a healthy combination. Rude had to admit John had improved immensely and he handled the daggers with such ease it was as if they were just extensions to himself. Telling John this brought a smile to his face but he still looked wistfully over at his brother who was now taking on the man who they'd seen with Lithia and Robin earlier. Marko moved with unhurried grace and looked very much in control but, unlike John, Rude could tell Marko had met his match. The other man wasn't going down anytime soon as he moved with Marko as if they were dancing, matching him move for move. The reason for Marko's purposeful control was not because he was the superior fighter but that his opponent went at the same speed he did. If Marko speeded up so would the other man and Marko with his heavier sword was at a disadvantage. John wasn't seeing this all he saw was his brother looking perhaps as he always had as the superior untouchable fighter he'd been at their village. Rude for once was happy he was an only child.

"Let's go." They managed three more rounds, Rude winning every time but there were many stinging scratches all over him by the end.

"Rest time." Trent called, enjoying being the commander of the group. Jim raced over, a black eye in the making but looking extremely satisfied, as did Kyo, when he returned. They were all red faced and sweaty now.

"So, who wants to go with me next?" To everyone's shock, John volunteered to fight Trent next. Jim smiled at Rude, meaning Tabby and Kyo were going to spar together.

Fighting Jim was like having a rest. He mainly had to dodge the pellets, keep moving and steadily work his way forward. Jim wasn't an idiot despite popular belief. He did not waste ammunition and had improved his aim considerably. Rude wasn't safe at any range, but that didn't mean he was in trouble. Far from it, Rude knew how to wait until an opportunity showed itself. They ended up dancing around each other for quite some time before Rude could work his way in to tackle Jim to the ground and use his weight and strength to pin Jim down.

When they looked at the clock next, everyone was surprised to see that it was six in the evening. Many people had moved on so it was virtually empty apart from a few senior Turks and themselves.

"Fancy calling it quits?" Trent asked as John tried to squirm out of a head lock. Kyo shrugged, blocking Tabby's attack instinctively. Rude was disappointed that he wasn't going to get to spar with the seniors but nodded along with Jim.

In the changing room, the seasoned Turks had nothing but praise for them and even expressed regret that they didn't get to pummel Rude as well. He was surprised that they'd found so much time to watch him, they made so many comments it was like they just sat and observed his fights the whole time yet they still had plenty to say to the others as well.

Leaving the changing rooms the group headed for the common room that they'd been in that morning.

"You have some nice moves Tabs," Trent told her fondly and she beamed but what he said next sent her blushing, "no wonder Lyons likes you so much."

John was going to have a field day with her when they were alone Rude could just see it.

"Still you could work on dodging and grip a bit more, it's too easy to disarm you though you improved even while I was fighting ya and you didn't _run away," _Kyo looked at Jim when he said the last part and Rude noticed the older man's hand automatically go up to his bruised eye.

"You'll need an ice pack for that." Tabby said, looking at it closer as she walked next to the gunslinger. Jim nodded; he wasn't going to run from any more fights any time soon.

As they opened the door to enter the lounging area, the Turk from this morning was just making her way out. Kyo called out to her as she passed them, "Hey, Ina! Seen Shino anywhere?"

"Shino? Yeah he's been helping his uncle with new weapon designs all day." she replied, walking backwards, "why were you looking for him?"

"We weren't, we just hadn't seen him that's all, and I suppose Hatoro is still away then." Trent yelled over their heads to her.

"Of course we don't all get to hang out with the new arrivals you know." She disappeared round the corner and they finally went to find seats.

"Can't believe Hatoro's hasn't come back yet, he'll hate to miss out on tomorrow's event." Kyo said to Trent as they took seats opposite each other on two couches' that had been placed around another table. Trent nodded but quickly brightened.

"He'll be back tomorrow morning you'll see."

"I wouldn't bet on it." Kyo took a banana from the fruit bowl.

"Not with your luck I wouldn't." Trent laughed as his friend threw the skin at him and missed.

"Looking forward to another day of sparring?" Kyo asked, in between swallowing some fruit and before taking another bite.

"Sure, can't think of any other way to kill time. Only problem with this event isn't it?" Trent cracked his neck and began moving his shoulder a bit, "Think we should take it easier, otherwise we'll be good for nothing."

"Not my fault, who threw who across the room?" Kyo replied, finishing his banana, "so have you got the betting tables ready, I think I know where my money's going."

"Yeah, I finished them last night. Some have already laid down bets but I didn't want to tell you since I know what your like."

"Oh, haha, you know this is where my luck outstrips yours, you just don't want to be out of pocket." Kyo glared at Trent who sighed, beaten. The rookies listened intently, they had a feeling something was happening tomorrow night and they were certain it'd involve them somehow.

"They're starting it early this time," Kyo carried on. Rude, being so observational, only noticed now that Kyo didn't button his collar up and he wasn't wearing a tie. He didn't looked scruffy as Red did, since his suit was more or less as neat as everyone else, he even tucked his shirt in.

"Got more to get through haven't they, not to mention the extra."

"Yeah. Ah well still can't believe Tseng picked us." Kyo yawned and snuggled into his seat.

"Don't knock it; Macti was furious when he wasn't chosen. Everyone thought he would be but we know why he wasn't." Trent examined an apple as he said this.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want a blood bath would we?" Kyo smiled to himself.

"You two talking about tomorrow?" Everyone looked up at the woman who was now leaning on the back of the couch over Kyo, a sheet of long golden hair falling over her shoulder. Rude noted her odd accent and couldn't tell where she'd come from, he'd never heard it before. "Kyo, you numbskull don't do go saying stuff like that in front of _them_!"

Before anyone could blink, Kyo had leapt up, fists balled as he stood one foot on the seat to stare the woman in the face, "what did you just call me?" He managed to get the words out between his gritted teeth. She smirked back, already in a similar position, with her arms folded and using her height to leer down at him, looking smug.

"You heard me, _numbskull_" The rookies stared as the two stared each other down, exchanging insult after insult, until finally Kyo jumped back, and sat down in front of Trent, rolling up his right sleeve. His partner rolled his eyes. The woman was already sitting opposite Kyo and had her own sleeve rolled up. They placed their elbows on the table and interlocked hands. At some invisible signal the arm wrestle began.

"I won't lose!"

"Whatever!"

Rude was surprised by the amount of effort both were putting into this rather sudden battle. Kyo seemed to be having a harder time but neither was making much progress, their arms shaking but not going anywhere, one-way or the other. The tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife.

"Does this happen every time they meet?" Jim leaned over and asked Trent as he eyed the pair.

"No, they don't always arm wrestle."

"Ah"

After five minutes if proved to be stalemate. After ten minutes, the woman was gradually gaining ground. After 15 minutes, Kyo was fighting back to the centre. After Twenty minutes, he was failing gain. Once half an hour had passed Trent stood up and pulled them over to the left, the woman's hand on top. Both glared angrily at him, protesting indignantly.

"_TRENT_!"

He held his ground, "If you two would stop acting like babies-"

"I'm not acting like a baby!" Kyo was on his feet as fast as lightning, the woman stood up calmly and muttered something that caused the gingered Turk to huff stubbornly and march back to his seat.

"So, are these the ones from yours and Lyon's group?" she asked casually to the large man who nodded. "I hope they're good, there is some pretty tough one's in my group that'll give them a run for their money."

"Is that a warning?" Kyo asked from where he sat.

"No, I just don't want what happened last year to happen again, and let's not forget _that_ incident from a couple of moths ago."

"Bloody awful that was." Trent swore.

"_Bloody_ is correct." The three Turks paused in solemn silence for a moment. "Well I'd best be on my way, Ina will most probably be waiting."

"Hey Arisa!" Kyo called after her, "Take care."

"You to numbskull," she smiled playfully and left.

"_What was that about_?" John mouthed, they had sat forgotten for the time being and none liked what they'd learnt. Turks, betting and blood didn't sound good. Whatever it was they'd know all by tomorrow.

"So chickens," Rude gathered Trent was referring to them, "Anything exciting happen to you today apart from sparring with the big boys,"

"Erm, yes actually." Jim said keen to get the topic back onto something normal, "You remember that redhead that appeared on our first mission together."

"What about him?" Trent bunched his eyebrows. Rude hadn't expected such a serious reaction but blew it off that Trent was still caught up in the mood of the previous conversation.

"Looks like he upset an official today, what was her name again?"

"Scarlett," Kyo offered, "we heard about that to, she terrorised the whole apartment looking for him."

"Yes, he still managed to avoid her though. He was in that closet and she still couldn't find him even when she went in there!" John exclaimed, "I wonder how he did it."

"Most probably, hid on the ceiling, its really high in that closet so she most probably didn't look up high enough." Trent theorized, glancing at his watch he pulled a face, "is it me or is the time going _too_ fast?"

Kyo just shrugged, he looked so settled as he slouched in the couch that Rude imagined he didn't plan on moving anywhere even though Trent was starting to get up again.

"Come on man! I haven't eaten anything except an apple all day, let's go and get something to eat. You guys want to come? It's getting close to nine so if you do, we'd better hurry."

Rude frowned; surely, it couldn't be that late already! He looked down at his own watch only to find it wasn't there. He began searching his pockets but it wasn't in them either.

"Lost something?" Tabby frowned as she watched him pat himself down looking for the missing accessory.

"My watch, I left it in the changing room." He grunted getting up.

"Rude leave it we can get it in the morning," Jim called after him as he started for the door. "They'll most probably be locked anyway."

"The training rooms don't get locked up; so long as you have your ID you can get in." Kyo said still nestled in his seat, "want us to wait for you?"

"No, you go on ahead I'm not that hungry."

"You sure?" Rude nodded in answer and walked out.

The corridor was considerably quieter though he could still hear the conversation behind the door. Kyo's loud voice was now protesting at being manhandled out of chair. He sped on, the faster he got to the changing rooms the better, he kind of knew where he was going now which was a bonus. He hoped he'd catch the others as they made there way down to the main entrance. Not really paying attention to his surroundings, he almost barrelled into someone coming round the corner. Thankfully, the man instinctively side stepped to avoid the collision and Rude stopped automatically to apologise.

"S-Sir," Rude blinked, he _had_ to be Tseng of all people that he almost ran over. The second-in-command didn't respond. The rookie noted the stern expression on the Turks face and thought it best not to step round him to carry on his way.

"My apologies Rude," Tseng finally said looking up at the taller man. His expression was thoughtful and Rude wondered what the man was planning, he must have been as distracted as Rude had been. He did look troubled. However, the bald man kept mute not sure what to say himself.

"Rude, are you doing anything." The second in command asked him after looking the big rookie up and down and coming to some conclusion.

He wasn't about to tell his superior that he was running off to get his watch since Tseng must have something planned for him so he simply shook his head, hoping his watch _would _he there in the morning. The Wutai man frowned at him; possibly sensing that Rude was lying to him. Whatever he thought though he must have judged what he needed to be done more urgent.

"Okay, I would like you to go and fetch our young friend from this morning, I think he's been there long enough to serve his punishment and I would also like to speak to him. Is that alright?" Tseng asked.

"I don't know where he is."

"He'll most probably be with Scarlett in her private study," Rude blanched surely that was a odd place to serve a punishment. "Her study is set apart from the rest of the weapons development department so you'll need to take the elevator, but if you go along the main corridor, and take the last door on the right and carry one down the stairs. Then take the third door on the left and go up two flights of stairs and turn left again you will find a passageway, just follow that to a fork where you go right and at the end should be her study. You will be able to recognise it since her name is on the door."

Rude blinked again. He hoped he remembered all that otherwise by the sounds of things he would be lost forever.

Giving the commander a curt nod he moved round him and headed for the elevators going over the directions in his head.

Coming to the elevators, he pressed the up button and waited. As he waited, he wondered what type of punishment the woman had in store for Red, and if there would be anything left of him by the end. It was a rather elusive place to reprimand someone, it was so far from anywhere that she could do anything to him and he wouldn't be able to stop her. She wouldn't kill him surely, not over a dress. Remembering her raving this morning he started to have his doubts.

When the elevator opened, he rushed inside and slammed his fist into the right button. He stood agitated willing the machine to go faster. He should not be worried, nothing would happen. He would get there to find the redhead pouting while cleaning the woman's giant shoe collection or something, for some reason that failed to calm his nerves. Once he reached the right floor, he slipped out of the doors before they had opened probably. He stormed down the corridor. People in labs coats and carrying electrical equipment or large scrolls pressed themselves against the walls to get out of his way. He heard a few muttered curses, but he didn't care, he was struggling to stop himself breaking out into a run.

He stopped when the end of the corridor came into view. Looking to the right, he saw the door and ran to it. Pulling it open, he continued down the stairs as Tseng had said until he reached a landing. He looked his left and counted the doors as he passed them. He was starting to pant now. The third door had been left ajar and he pushed his way through. He sprinted up the stairs ignoring all other passageways and doors. Swinging down the left passageway, he carried on. The narrow corridor was dark, the lighting faint. Everything had turned to metal sometime ago. It was like running down a ventilation shaft. His footsteps echoed behind him, it made him very aware how alone he was. Coming to the fork he instinctively turned right, not stopping until he practically ran head on into a wooden door.

Rude looked around, he was standing on a rug, in what appeared to be a small hallway. The walls and floor were still metallic but plants were stationed at the four corners of the small space making it look a little more homely. Another passageway lead off somewhere to the right, but no lights lit that path. In front of him the door, perhaps a more thoughtful design than most of the doors he'd passed but it was by no means extravagant. "_Scarlett" _was marked into the wood in big flowing and curled letters. The gold plating glittered as his shadow blocked some of the light when he approached. He knocked.

"WHAT?" he winced at the aggressive snarl. Taking a deep breath he spoke up.

"I've been sent by Tseng."

There was some scuffling movement and then a loud bang. He heard the faint sound of heels clicking against marble and then the much louder sound of a key working its way into the lock, it clicked and the door slide open. Scarlett stood before him, looking in order and everything a superior should. No longer raving mad she could even be considered attractive if it wasn't for that evil grin on her face.

"Come in," the grin spread. She turned away and went back into her room. He followed.

She walked across the marble entrance and up a set of stairs that rose above Rude's head blocking his view of beyond though he could see the domed ceiling that rose high above them. A chandelier hung in the centre and cast the room in a soft glow. Bookshelves and displays of weapon designs were all around the circular room. When she reached the top and carried on, he noticed the annoying clicking had ceased. The rest of the room must be carpeted he thought.

Coming to the top himself, he was proved right, the floor was a rich blood red and he could feel its softness even through his heavy boots. Each step made a slight impression into the carpet. The furniture, mainly tables and a few cabinets to the side, was all a deep mahogany that shone in the green light that came through the tall windows behind Scarlett's massive desk.

She was already seating herself in the throne-like chair behind this, she'd become little more that a dark silhouette against the greenish light. Her fire illuminated some of her features as well as the person who was sitting next to her that he could vaguely make out. As he made his way forward he noticed something out the corner of his eye. Turning his head he saw that a table had been knocked over; the vase that had been on it still lay shattered. The roses lay in the dark red patch that had spread across the floor. If he squinted, he could just make out some books that had been pulled from the shelves in one of the large bookcases. This concerned him.

Scarlett smiled at him when he took his place standing in front of the desk. He glanced over at the person in the other chair and was shocked to see Red; looking so sleepy and still, he appeared catatonic. His usually bright eyes were dull and staring, looking across the desk at nothing in particular. The woman coughed to get his attention.

"You were saying?" She inquired her tone formal. Rude could tell she was pretending not to notice that Red was not himself, the smirk that she was covering behind her hands was proof.

"I'm here to collect Red." He indicated the rookie with his head. Scarlett raised a pencil thin eyebrow.

"Red? I see. You Turks and your nicknames," her red lips twisted into the evil grin yet again as she continued, "I'm afraid he cannot. I hope there is nothing Tseng wants with him."

"He said he needed to talk to him," Rude replied, doing his best to stay polite even though he desperately wanted to grab Red and get out of this place.

"Does he now? It is not the first time I have heard that. Very well, if he wants the brat so much then he will just have to come down here and get him. So you just run along and tell your superior that, besides I have plenty I still want to do with…Red." She snorted when she said this, and ruffled the messy red hair. Red didn't do anything. This lack of response freaked out Rude so much that he was out of the door before Scarlett could even bat an eyelash. She continued to smile as she watched the large man's retreating back. "Come on then, let's see what fun I can have with you until your master arrives." The door slammed shut.

Rude forgot he hadn't eaten for of twenty four hours and that he'd been working out nearly all day and his energy reserves were low, he just ran. There was something wrong, definitely wrong. It was worse than if he'd found Red missing a limb or something, what had she done to him.

"Rude?" Tseng called over to him. He'd seen the rookie sprinting down the corridor as if a raging chocobo was after him and hurried to meet him halfway as Rude back tracked. "Something wrong? Where is he?"

Gasping for air he just managed to get the words out, "…She said…that…you…have ..to ..get him…"

"Did he say anything?" Tseng sounded concerned, and he bent down so his face was closer to Rude's since he was bent over.

"No…something…wrong ...with….him." The second-in-command's eye widen and he straightened. Before Rude could say anything else, Tseng was running back the way Rude had come. Rude wanted to go after him but now he'd stopped he couldn't bring himself to go again. His lungs were bursting. He leant against the wall. Tseng must have been on his way there anyway, he was still in weapons development. His pulse calmed down and he pushed himself off the wall. He decided he would go back; he wanted to make sure the rookie was all right.

He had to walk, his body wouldn't let him run and by the time he got back to the fork he was having doubts as to whether he should have followed. He didn't really feel like hurrying back, instead he went down the left passage. He didn't go very far, just far enough to be hidden if Tseng looked around if he came back and to see the corridor he'd just come down. He rested against the metal wall, allowing his heat to seep into the cold material.

After sometime the sound of footsteps echoed down the passage, he wasn't sure where they were coming from but had a feeling it was from behind him. He was so tired he didn't plan to move anyway.

"This is a surprise," The deep voice bounced along the small corridor down to Rude. He looked round to see a reasonably tall man that appeared to have stepped out of one of those romance novels. His blonde hair shinnied in the dim light, two long bangs hung at the side of his face. The man wore a dark navy silk coat that was buttoned around his abdomen so it went out slightly at the bottom; the cuffs were white to match his pants. He also had what appeared to be a light blue scarf or ruff tucked into his shirt. Rude took all this in as the older man strode toward him with mild curiosity. "What are you doing here Turk?"

Rude had no idea who that man was but like Scarlett he got the impression he was a senior official, He straightened and saluted, "I'm waiting for Tseng, sir."

"Down here?" The man raised an eyebrow but he didn't appear angry only amused, "Interesting."

"Actually," he corrected himself, "he doesn't know I'm waiting, I'm not sure if I was meant to follow him or not."

"Ah," the man snorted he seemed to enjoying the idea Turk was skulking down here, "Tell me is Tseng seeing Scarlett?"

Rude nodded and the man became thoughtful, "I was going down there myself. I saw her dragging a poor unfortunate soul down here earlier; I suppose it _was_ a Turk then. I'll just have to go later when she finishes whatever game she is playing."

The man walked past Rude, and carried on going until he disappeared down the corridor that led back to the main building presuming he didn't go down one of those many side passages in this rabbit warren. Now the question remains **_who in the world was that_**?

His pondering was quickly interrupted by the sound of more footsteps. This time they definitely came from the other corridor and he waited patiently. It was not long before Tseng came into view. Rude's jaw dropped, he'd never expected this; he just managed to glimpse Tseng was carrying a unconscious Red in his arms. Tseng was so busy whispering to himself the large rookie might as well have stood in plain view for all the attention he would have got. Was Red that badly hurt? What had happened to him? He felt somewhat embarrassed as well. He had a feeling that was something he wasn't meant to have seen, as if he'd witnessed something very personal. He would have to wait until he was certain Tseng had gone before he went after him. He should have just gone for his watch and not got involved. Something odd was going on and now he wanted to know what it was. He cursed his curiosity a hundred fold and quietly crept his way back.

Thankfully, he made it back to the Turk department without running into them. However, he was struck with a wild idea. He wanted to check on Red, he had to know what had happened to him. Instead of going back to his dorm as he had been planning, he changed his course to Tseng's office. He pressed his hand against his stomach trying to still the growls for food. He would wait outside the office until Tseng came back from the hospital, that was most probably where he would be taking Red now.

This was why he was surprised to find the light on. Surely, he couldn't be back already, but he was. He knocked on the door without hesitation. Tseng took a while to open but when he did, he looked slightly surprised. For one moment Rude thought he was going to turn him away, but instead Tseng sighed and held the door open for him.

Rude stepped inside, immediately taking in the major difference since he was last here. Red was asleep on Tseng's couch at the side of the room. Tseng had wrapped the young rookie in thick blankets and the redhead softly dozed, he looked adorably content.

"Is he alright, sir?" Rude asked, looking down at Red. He took in the pale face and studied it for any sign that may have caused Red to be in the state he'd been in.

"I don't know. I will have to consult Hojo about it tomorrow."

"_Hojo," _Rude's mind automatically recalled the conversation where he'd last heard that name. It couldn't be the same man could it? "Can't you go to the hospital?"

Tseng shook his head and sat on the couch, careful not to sit on the Turk's feet. "I don't think they'd be much help."

"Any idea what may have caused him to be…like that?"

"If your talking about that somewhat catatonic state he was in then no, but I do have a hunch but I'd rather not say."

"How long has he been unconscious?"

"When I got there, she had him sitting in a chair behind her desk. While we were talking he just suddenly collapsed, I'd say an hour but it looks like he's just sleeping now." Tseng stroked Red face, moving aside some of the bangs. This surprised Rude and he shifted uncomfortably. Did Tseng treat all the Turks like this? "Is that all?"

"Yes…I'm sorry…I just want to know if he was alright." Tseng nodded at this and Rude began exiting the room.

"Oh and Rude," The larger man looked over his shoulder, Tseng was now pulling the blanket back over Red where its slipped out of place, "Not a word about this to anyone."

"Understood, sir." He left. When he was out the door, Rude released a sigh; well that had been awkward and he was still none the wiser. He looked at his wrist to check the time but remembered his watch wasn't there. Should he leave it? It was so late now he might as well wait until the morning but that would lead to questions. He decided he might as well go, get the watch and say he got lost on the way back, to explain why he'd not come back. They'd believe him.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: celebrates It is possibly my best so far! I hope it wasn't _too_ serious.

I can't believe I survived spell checking and proof reading all 19 pages of it!

So many blonde characters introduced! Its okay, I'm not obsessed with blondes really considering I've more or less introduced or mentioned all the blonde characters I have and there are loads more to introduce (that are not blonde). OMG the story is beginning to get into the main plot!

Please read and review


	9. Wake up

Title: When Rude Met Reno  
Authoress: Vitalini  
Rating: T  
Summary: Its not easy being a Turk, but what does it take to become one? While Rude is discovering what it really means to be a Turk, Tseng finally thinks he's found a way to calm a certain redheaded devil causing havoc in the Turk department. Join Rude and many new faces as they come to face the reality that is ShinRa.

Warning: Violence and language if there is anything else I'll warn you about when it comes.

Disclaimer: I only own any original characters and the fic- obviously, apart from that I own naught

Author's note: I'm alive! It's been awhile since I lasted updated but this Chapter was a difficult one and I'm still not sure about it, not even after re-writing three times. This last version is totally different then the original but oh well. I hope you like it anyway.

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"Yo! Morning _Sunshine_!"

Rude's eyes blinked open, the loud singing voice still ringing in his ear. "W-w-what?" Something soft was tickling his cheek. Turning over he managed to make out the blurred figure of someone hovering over him on all fours. The figures bright red hair glowed like fire in the glaring light.

"This is you wake up call to the dawn of time!" He recognised the familiar voice and had enough self-control not to smirk. Now his eyes were adjusting to daylight he could easily see the lopsided smile in the redhead's face. "Come on! Get moving, yo! Tseng want's to talk ta ya about tonight." It was getting a little annoying, okay painful to have him practical yell down his ear. Not done with the bigger rookie yet, Red bounced off him and began to tug at his hand.

Rude refused to budge; his body was telling him it was too early to rise. But by sheer determination the smaller man managed to drag him half way out of bed, covers and all. Satisfied with his work and heaving loudly from the effort Red let go and scampered off somewhere, leaving Rude to clumsily try to right himself as he clung to the mattress, that last pull had nearly dislocated his arm, what was the kid playing at? Once balanced and unfortunately awake he slowly rubbed the sleep from his eyes and reached for his shades.

"H_UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU_RYUP!"

A violent jolt sent him flying off his precarious perch on the edge of the bed. Angry and in pain he turned round to find a cackling redhead rolling around on his mattress. Having pounced on the bed with his entire might Red had managed to wind himself so his manic laughter came out endearingly wheezy. The larger rookie shook his head at the other's antics. Finding it hard to summon the anger to yell at the scrawny man, he made a playful swipe for him but Red bounced out of the way. Still giggling like an excited child the pest disappeared out the door before Rude could throw a pillow at him. Picking himself up he decided to make an effort to get ready since he wasn't likely to go back to sleep now. Groggily he stumbled to the bathroom where a cold shower awaited him.

Something was nagging at him ever since he realised the bothersome bug that was pulling him from peaceful slumber was Red. Still confused about the unique wake up call he turned on the water, its cold touch causing unpleasant chills to race up his body but also doing wonders to clear the fogginess in his head. Eventually it hit him, along with the recollection of last nights frightening adventure, the mere memory of Scarlett's evil laugh causing chills to run through him deeper than the water could reach. Leaving Red in such a disturbed woman's clutches was nauseating especially since, (he had to admit this,) he'd grown fond of the crazy person. Despite the blatant flaws or just overall imperfect being that Red may be and the small fact that it usually took Rude months to like someone enough to call them a close acquaintance, it was a surprising revelation.

Part from that, what was bothering him was last time he saw the vibrant redhead he'd been unconscious on Tseng's sofa. Now he was suddenly bouncing off the walls, with some sadistic desire to yell into his ear to wake him up at what felt like an ungodly hour. Either everything he'd heard about Hojo was wrong and the scientist was in fact a miracle worker or Tseng had given the rookie a 'Hyper' this morning or hopefully it had just looked worse than it actually was. None seemed likely. He knew the raven haired Turk wouldn't be so irresponsible, he wasn't second-in-command for nothing. A gut feeling was telling him Red hadn't set foot in a lab, not to mention he sorely doubted Hojo was a disguised saint, he had done his research and the paperwork wasn't pretty, the only pretty thing about it was that it was pretty disturbing and that was putting it pretty nicely. As for the last idea, he threw it out the window last night when he'd seen Tseng's body language, he trusted the Turks judgement and from what he saw Red was in a serious state, further evidence to push the reckless use of a 'Hyper' as a the cause out the window.

This left him with the other options that the redhead was a fast healer and just plain mental to begin with, (that seemed more plausible) or the hyperactivity was another side effect, or it could be a mix of both. He really wanted to know what _that_ woman had done to him, but deep down he knew he wasn't going to get any answers any time soon. He contended himself that at least Red was up and running… quite literally.

Stepping out of the shower, feeling refreshed as he dried himself off, Rude wondered about the drama's that may unfold today. He was beginning to feel that the Investigation Division of the General Affairs Department of the Shinra Electric Power Company was perhaps the weirdest part of ShinRa, if his fellow rookies were anything to go by. It always struck him as strange that ShinRa's ruthless assassins had so much _personality, _but he supposed that if part of the training program had been to kill individuality most would have gone insane. One the other hand, there was no point moulding a load of people into mindless killers before you knew who actually had the skill to become a Turk, was there? The question was would they rely on them to change or would the company do that for them. It had been a long time since he wondered what would become of him and his friends once he entered the darkest realms of ShinRa.

Had it not been for Youji he would have stuck to the SOLDIER program. From past experience and knowledge there was always the hope one could become some kind of hero in that field. As a Turk, well from when he was a child all he'd known of this group was the dark suits, cold eyes and terror, why his bubbly childhood friend wanted to become one of _those _people remained a bemusing mystery. However, being part of the academy had softened his view of ShinRa.

_Brainwashing perhaps?_

Anyway, under Youji's suggestion he'd switched to being a Turk trainee after half a year even though at the time he was strongly against it. So why did he change? Simple, he couldn't keep up with the with the sword and gun training, despite having the strength they couldn't drill the skill into fast enough for their liking. Being a Turk was more about intelligence (modesty aside for a second, he did have plenty of that) so he was caught in the middle, the build of a SOLDIER but the mind of a Turk. It hadn't taken that much persuading for him to chose the path of a Turk. At the time he was loathe to admit he actually preferred it. It suited him better and it was, dare he say, everything he'd ever wanted. Now almost a true Turk or more precisely an official rookie his worries of what he was to become were returning and he knew deep down there was a catch. Call him cynical (and he was) but there had to be some negative. However when he saw people like Tabby, John, and Jim striving to succeed to whatever end he couldn't help but remember it was not all bad. Needless to say it took him awhile to dry himself off, tie the towel around his waist and brush his teeth with these thoughts and feelings swimming around inside.

Emerging from the bathroom he made sure he checked what the time was, he liked the assurance of knowing such little things.

_I'm going to throttle him! _

He couldn't believe it, no wonder he was feeling so crabby. He'd been deprived of over an hour of sleep! That's it when he got hold of that Scrawny little….

However before his murderous thoughts could develop he was distracted by a rather loud alarm going off in the room next door, followed immediately by a startled yelp. Hardly a second past before it happened again, and then again, it was as if everyone's alarms were going off like dominos all down the corridor. Quickly realising what must be going on he found himself silently congratulated the redhead. He only hoped, for his sake, that he did this for a good reason and not as some prank.

Once enough time had gone by and the irritated grumblings had died down, he stuck his head out the door to see what everyone was making of this. The corridor was still poorly lit, the lights would remain dimmed for at least another hour but that didn't stop people wandering about curiously wondering what the heck was going on. Further along the corridor, Jim was talking to the lanky man they had seen yesterday, both looked considerably ruffled and the man with no name appeared to be rubbing the side of his head. Of course, he couldn't hear what they were saying this far down but enough of the others annoyed complaining and dark mutterings drifted over to him. Again, he hoped no one found out Red was behind this.

Restraining the threatening smirk, he glanced down at the lock on his own door. _How did he do it? _Tracing his dark fingers over the smooth metal, he could see no indication of it being picked even with his trained eyes. When he was first given the room, he had tested how secure these locks were supposed to be by trying to pick them himself. He had little faith in the claim that they were more secure then electrical pin coded locks even if there was the off chance someone could hack or figure out the codes to the room. Failing no matter what method, he could think of and he'd picked a number of locks in his time, therefore making him conclude that the locks were indeed impossible to pick.

Red not only managed to pass their locks but also managed to sneak into _all_ their rooms without anyone detecting him. It had been quite a curious thing to consider how the young male could even be considered Turk material, especially when he was so undisciplined. However, with so much potential and skill how could he be anything but a Turk. The idea he could roam the building like a ghost was more then a little disconcerting.

"Rude!" Looking up he saw Jim limping towards him still dressed in his bed wear. The strained muscle in his calf that had stiffened over night caused his clumsy jog. Sighing Rude pushed his door open a little further to allow the other man entrance while he went to find something to wear.

Jim entered just as he was pulling out a fresh suit. "You're getting changed _already!_ It's only _5:00 a.m_. I was planning on going back to bed." To emphasis, his point he promptly collapsed on Rude's vacant bed.

Ignoring the short man, he pulled out his training gear, reconsidering which would be most appropriate. He decided on his training clothes unless Tseng advised otherwise when he went to see him. "Need a potion for that?" he gestured to Jim's sore limb wondering why the man was taking so much interest in his sheets that had been tossed all over the place by Red earlier.

"Huh..._Oh, _yeah that'd be a good idea I have my own I can use though…erm did you have trouble sleeping last night?"

He'd just grabbed his trainers when he replied, "More of a unusual wake up," then headed for the bathroom again to change while Jim chuckled at his comment.

A few minutes later and pulling on his jumper he emerged from the bathroom, expecting to find Jim dozing on his bed since he'd been oddly quiet. He was still on the bed but it took a moment for Rude to figure out what he was actually doing.

"Why are you smelling my sheets?" he asked off hand putting on his watch.

"I…well err Rude do you have a new cologne, perfume or something because I can smell it on your sheets."

Shrugging he walked over to his friend to drag him unceremoniously off his bed. Jim let out a short squawk of protest just as he hit the floor before smirking evilly, "So I take it you didn't get lucky last night then?"

"You know very well ShinRa doesn't allow unauthorised personal into their apartments." He gave Jim a stern look, showing he was not impressed with his trail of thought.

The other man simply sniggered while awkwardly getting up again as Rude turned off his alarm in case it went off later. "Get changed, Tseng wants to speak to us."

"I forget how you're not a morning person." Jim mumbled, shaking his head so his brown uncombed hair got into his eyes while sounding a little irritable and rubbing his now pained rear. "I thought the meeting was tonight?"

"I was told now." Rude answered opening the door, indicating it was time for him to go. Shooting the taller man a curious look Jim wondered where he'd heard about this but he knew Rude, always a man of few words and currently a unimpressed man of few words wasn't likely to give him a straight answer. He let his questions drop for now, he would find out soon enough.

Once Jim had gone, he decided to sort of the mess that was his bed. He pulled on the soft sheets, adjusting them back into place and airing them out before tucking them in. At one point, he detected the smell Jim had referred to and curiosity made him bring it closer to his face even though he knew it was off Red. Immediately he identified the scent of expensive perfumes and roses from Scarlett's private study. He also caught a whiff of leather and coffee, no doubt from Tseng's office but there was something else, something he couldn't identify but reminded him of an exotic spice and was rather pleasing to his senses. Realising what he was doing he hurriedly pulled the cloth away. Thankful he was alone he quickly finished tidying the bed before opening a window to allow in some 'fresh' air.

Stepping out into the hallway he securely locked his door; no longer sure of what good it would do. Then he made his way through the loitering individuals to Jim's room to wait outside. Watching the others walk by, some stumbling in a half-awake state, he thought over how he never brought himself to really care about the other trainees and he hardly knew their names. Yet he _could_ recall the time the dustbins were to be emptied or when the cleaners were meant to clean their floor. They'd stayed in the same corridor, smiled at each other in passing but never really encaged. He was deemed a classified recluse and he had held that title with pride… until recently. Truth was he never attempted to integrate, never planned to, even after Youji's death he kept his distance and pushed people away. He didn't know what happened during those exams but suddenly he had people who sort his company, who trusted and relied on him just as Youji did making him wondered how he lasted so long without them.

"Hey! You going back to sleep there?" Glancing down he saw Jim smiling at him looking neat and perky. "You didn't have to wait."

"I wanted to." He replied calmly just as a screech caught their attention.

Turning to see a dark haired woman jumping back as flash of red raced passed her yelling out, "Yo, Tseng wants to see you in the common room now!" This time Rude did smirk as Red appeared and went in a swift blur, most likely to scar more people out of bed. At least he didn't have tell everyone else about the meeting now.

"You heard him." He started walking with Jim in toe. Along the way they met Tabby and John, from the sounds of things they had a similar wake up call as well, the kid sure got around. There complains put him in a slightly brighter mood, as usual their chitchat made everything seem normal again.

Today they had no trouble finding where they had to go. The card keys they'd been presented with allowed limited exploration as it was, Rude had found out that the Labs he'd stumbled across weren't the main labs and since they were still on the lower levels of the ShinRa building it was unlikely they would come up across anything important. Still they were enough to get them to where they needed to go for now and the room assigned for them was only two floors up, once they were went passed a few familiar landmarks he really wondered how they ever got lost in the first place, there wasn't very far they could go.

Entering the room there was no sign of Tseng and Rude was again hoping this was not some prank at their expense. Thankfully other rookies had already arrived which gave him reassurance. Admittedly, they'd collapsed in the nearest chairs, one or two remained on their feet but none of them were talking. Voices from the far end of the room drew his attention to the familiar sight of Kyo and Trent, who were again apart from the new recruits. He noticed Red was also with them. After exchanging glances his group decided they would see if they could join the Turks, so made their way over.

"_Damn, _Milestreak lost _again_!" the orange haired Turk groaned throwing down the newspaper he had been intently studying when they'd entered.

"_Nah, _what ya gonna do?" Red sighed slouched in his seat looking and sounding immensely bored.

Trent, who was sitting opposite the others in his own chair added, "Told ya that bird was getting past it's sell by date," this wasn't something Kyo wanted to hear as he started to mutter darkly but his giant friend ignored his typical grumbles and growls. "Who did you bet on Kid?"

Red, who had started cleaning his fingernails with a small pocket knife mumbled, "Alboltross," in answer.

"What!" Kyo bolted up in his seat like someone had electrocuted him, "You lucky sonofva…" However, he stopped mid curse when he finally spotted the rookies heading their way.

Red who'd given him a strange look followed his gaze, as did Trent who brightened at the sight of them. "Looks like we got some more company."

The big man raised a hand in greeting, signalling it was okay for them to come over and sit with them. Red, who'd been somewhat spread out shifted to make room on the two seated sofa allowing Jim to squeeze in while the others pulled up chairs as they were made welcome. A few jibs and wise cracks later they settled down.

"You're lively this morning." John stated, earning a smile from Trent when Kyo gave a sarcastic snort to the comment.

"At this ungodly hour? I do not think so." Everyone sniggered as Kyo yawned after making his point.

"That's what ya get for staying up late, yo." Red replied, "Ya lot have a good time then?"

Tabby nodded enthusiastic as the redhead's comment sparked more conversation as they relived their eventfully night out. From the sounds of things, Jim was going to have a few more things to live down after last night. Rude smirked as he listened to the talk, trying to visualise what he'd missed out on. He glanced at Red who appeared to be intrigued by their banter and smiling along with everyone else, his eye lighting up every now and then, as if nothing serious had happened to him at all. It made Rude wonder even more about his own adventure last night.

"See what you missed out on big guy," Jim finally said, "Oh by the way did your find your watch?" In answer, Rude showed the item and waited for the next question. "So what took you so long?"

"I got lost again." As he hoped, they took it at face value and cracked a few jokes at his expense. He glanced over at Red again only to find the single narrowed orb focused on him looking slightly confused because he knew Rude was lying. Maybe it was a good moment to change the subject, "What were you looking at before?"

"The newspaper?" Trent asked and Rude nodded, "Just put a few bets on the Chocobo races."

Jim with his usual tact blurted out "So you lost?" He directed his question at Kyo but it was more of a statement since winners didn't usually have faces liked a sour pickle. Naturally, he earned himself a glare.

"Just his usual luck." Trent laughed but moved back in his seat at least his friend went to throw something at him again. However, Jim wasn't listening, he'd ducked behind Red to avoid Kyo's death glare and seemed to be quite taken with the redhead's suit. "You have a cold?" Trent observed as Jim made another sniffling noise. Red tried to move away.

"Huh? No I just smelt something familiar…" he smelled Red's suit again getting more queer looks as his face contorted while he tried to figure something out. Rude shifted uneasily, knowing what Jim was about to say next. "…I got it!" he clicked his fingers and elaborated, "I smelled the kid on Rude's sheets…wait a minute you two didn't?"

_Good Gaia! _Smacking his hand to his forehead and then shaking his head in disbelieve the taller man replied, "Must everything go that way in you head?"

"What?" Jim defended, "he smells just like your sheets did!"

Kyo and Trent had looks on their faces showing they had no idea what to think and Red who, was freaked out by having Jim smell him, was inching away from him even more. Thankfully, Tabby just sighed and John shook his head sadly too used to Jim's one-track mind even to entertain his suggestion.

"Forgive him," John started, "His dad and brother were…well gay and he is a little obsessed but you get used to it." He shrugged to show it wasn't such a big deal even though they knew it was slightly more complicated than that but there was no need to go into detail about it.

"_I'm_ right here!" Jim grumbled. "I did have valid evidence…"

"And the mind of a sewer rat," Tabby finished off. "I'm sure there is an innocent reason behind your evidence."

Taking his queue to set Jim straight Rude confirmed, "He woke me up this morning." He was not sure if he should call the redhead Red since it wasn't his name and it seemed like flimsy nickname anyway. It just was wrong in his head but he'd never been one for nicknames.

"What was he doing in your room_ hmm_?" It was fairly obvious that no one was taking him seriously but Jim pressed his point.

Red who was recovering from coughing fit, Rude noted he'd had quite a few since they'd arrived, elaborated in a slightly raspy voice, "same thing I was doing in ya room." He cleared his throats and continued without the rasp, "But I think _you_ were up to somehin' a little more interest, if da limp o' yours is anything to go by, yo."

"W-w-what!" Jim spluttered, his skin going a bright shade of pink, "I got the limp in training, why what were you thinking?"

The redhead was snickering behind his hand at the older rookie's reaction. "Nuthin'" He replied innocently, "Why ya getting' so defensive, yo? I know an old timer like you ain't gonna get no action. Ya got somethin' else ta hide?"

Not really understanding what Red was trying to accomplish with that Rude watched as his friend bristled, though what annoyed him more remained debateable. He certainly was struggling to come up with comeback. Red cocked his visible brow in anticipation for the answer, smirking to goad Jim on. Maybe he was just enjoying putting the poor man on the spot because now the whole group was waiting for his answer. Rude might have felt sorry for him but he was enjoying the playful suffering Jim was going through and it seemed like a more rewarding revenge then chasing the man through shrubs and trees.

Anyway after a minute or two of Jim sweating and going even redder between anger and embarrassment he finally blurted out, "What do you mean _old timer_!"

Of course every one laughed, except Rude who grinned which counted as a laugh for him. "You're so slow, man." John reached over to pat John's shoulder, "must be losing your touch in your old age."

"You're so funny I forgot to laugh." Despite his words, Jim was no sourpuss and even he began to smile. Rude couldn't help but feel it was wrong for them to be so happy.

Why? Well he wasn't stupid or deluded, he knew what this job entailed and even if it did have a lower mortality rate then Guards or SOLDIERS, there was still a high chance that'd they'd end up dead in the next five years, though there was also the kidnappings and murder that apparently went on. During his training, he'd learnt a lot, had a lot of his old hopes and ideals trashed but had carried on this course for the sake of another, in doing so come to terms what he was possibly letting himself in for but he knew he was not getting the whole picture. In short, they would not be smiling for much longer.

"Joking besides," Tabby said then addressed the seniors, "Since you're here does that mean Tseng really does want to see us." She gave Red a nervous glance but he didn't appear offended in fact he'd picked up the discarded the newspaper proceeded to be engrossed in it, something Rude found not quite right, it appeared out of character to the redhead even though he hardly knew him. As for Tabby's queries that was perfectly justifiable since Red seemed the type to pull practical jokes at others expense. He had no problem upsetting higher officials, and so what was waking them all up. The repercussion couldn't be any worse. Fighting his fellow rookies would be appealing to what had happened to him in that study, whatever had happened. That and Rude wasn't about to let the little redhead fend himself along against the rest, his conscious wouldn't let him.

"Wait a minute," Jim blurted out just as Trent was about to answer, "_You_ reset our alarms!"

What away to disrupt his mental thinking, Rude thought as Red applauded Jim's realisation with slow sarcastic claps. Still it was a good thing to concentrate on the now, even if the chair was inviting him to take a short doze.

"…Anyway," Trent started, "Tseng phoned us to come here and wait so I guess that means he does want us here."

"We think it's to do with it being started earlier and to save even more time they're giving the instructions now instead of tonight." Kyo elaborated sounding distinctly bored with the whole affair all of a sudden.

"What's _it?" _the old rookie didn't know when to shut up but from the looks of things this was a question that had been brought up during last night, that is if the eye rolling as anything to go by.

"Jim shut up; it's too early for _that_." John begged from where he was laid back in his own chair, "Just wait and see."

"Yeah, like we keep telling you it's a surprise." Trent pressed, sounding tired himself.

"Well you could give us a hint, something to help us guess and pass the time by."

Red sniggered and patted Jim on the head in a manner an adult would do to hush a child, "Don't worry the suspense ain't gonna last long, yo." He stated absentmindedly, "Tseng'll be here in a minute."

True to Red's word, Tseng walked in almost a minute later. However, they didn't realise at first and Rude couldn't see since his back was to the entrance, but he got their attention by coughing loud enough to waken even those that had fallen asleep. Two other people had followed him in. One was the woman they'd come across yesterday, Arisa and the other was a stranger. Rude guessed the stranger was another senior since he followed Arisa towards his group.

Something told Rude he'd be seeing more of this man so he paid extra attention to his appearance so he could recognise him in the future. The first thing that came to mind of Reeve Tuesti, the head of urban development, it wasn't like he'd met Reeve before but he'd seen a photo of him and there was something very similar in their appearances only this man looked taller, stronger and more deadly. That and he was blonde and had more hair in general that wasn't sleeked back as was custom of official's (even Palmer who hardly had any hair seemed to have the bits of turf sticking out of his scalp pushed hopelessly back, the man hadn't heard of gel obviously.) The man's shoulder length hair was pulled back in a loose pony hair and his suit was commendably smart. That combined with the way he held himself gave him a refined and proud air. As the man got closer, Rude noted the man's hair wasn't blond but a light sandy brown streaked with natural golden highlights, his eyes compliments his hair, brown with amber speckles. Although he did have unusually thick eyebrows, which would make him easier to identify from a respective distance. More importantly, he noted the man way the man moved and the way he conducted himself. He was definitely the oldest and most experienced of the senior Turks they'd come across, excluding Tseng and Veld naturally. There was strength and wisdom to behold in him and Rude found himself respecting him already.

"Hey Kitty, how's it going?" Red grinned as he jumped off the sofa and onto the floor, making room for the woman to sit next to the annoyed ginger haired Turk.

"That pun is getting old now." The man answered like a father softly reprimanding a child that doesn't understand what they are doing wrong.

"I ain't simple, yo." The redhead still sounded amused, "I just know ya don't like it, but I think it suits you."

The man sighed in defeat, "You have the strangest tastes. Speaking of which what is with this 'yo' business I thought ending every other sentence with those nonsensical phrases, 'zo to' and 'yo to' were bad enough."

"Want me to stop, yo?" Red smirked flashing a cheeky grin at the senior Turk who appeared equally amused by the conversation.

"Would you tell me what they mean?"

"They don' mean nuthin' just habit." Red explained waving his hands a bit.

"I see and what about that slum drawl? Could you explain why you have started putting 'yo' in your sentences as well?" The new man pressed sitting himself on Tabby's armrest and for some reason she blushed.

"Okay, okay I'll stop with da 'yo' then." Red pouted playfully but he didn't seem bothered after all he still ended the sentence with that 'zo to' which made the whole sentence sound funny but they were already used it, in fact Rude had until the man pointed it out been mentally ignoring the strange speech pattern after he'd first noticed it.

"He's a case isn't he Lyon." Trent nodded at Red and they shared a knowing look.

"Indeed he is," Lyon replied calmly, "Though I can't wait to see the rest in action as well."

"Yeah, this year is going to be interesting wouldn't you say?" Trent continued, stretching casually in his seat. Rude however was suddenly too busy staring at _Lyon_ that he tuned out the rest off the conversation. Tabby liked _this_ man, liked him to such a degree that it bordered on idolism and a high school girls_ crush_. Well no wonder John kept shooting her those looks. No wonder she was currently brighter than a beetroot.

"If you're _all_ listening," Tseng left a dramatic pause to glare pointedly at their group. Instantly all the careless smiles vanished and they propped themselves up to better see and hear their commander. All except Red, who was still spread lazily across the floor, the cocky smile tucking at the side of his mouth but he was looking at Tseng and paying attention, "I would like to get started. I understand this is sudden however due to the circumstances the department believes that you need to be briefed earlier than originally planned. Although, we hadn't planned it being _this_ early." Tseng shot another look at their group, or more specifically, the redhead who held up a sheepish 'V' sign.

Naturally a few other glares were shot in their direction, since they were sitting down they couldn't see the redhead but they knew someone in their group was to blame for getting them out of bed. The man sprawled across the floor merely coughed again and pretended to give the raven-haired man his full attention when he continued.

"As you may be aware there is an event, a recent tradition if you like, which you will be partaking in tonight. Since there are so many of you this year, we will be starting it early. There is some discussion still over whether a time limit should be put in place, when it is decided we will inform you. Until then we will give you instructions on what will be expected of you." He smiled offering a small form of comfort, "Don't worry, the procedures are quite simple, though the event itself it quite big. In fact, it's most looked forward to by those closely associated to the President outside the company and all within. Once it is over I'm sure you'll all find the work worth it."

"Get on with it," Red called over now lying horizontally on the floor, "Sir." He added as an after thought. His rudeness was not reprimanded instantly as they would expect, leaving the other rookies perplexed.

"Certainly," Tseng nodded, "I gather holding you in suspense any longer is an unnecessary torment on your already frail nerves." He glanced at a number of particular individuals that appeared more apprehensive then most, not surprising when you considered how much had been thrown at them already. Though they were said to be official Turks now none of them believed it possible quite yet, it was strongly thought that tonight's event was in fact the final test, which was quite true. "This evening you will all participate in Tournament…."

"A tournament! As in a fighting tournament?" A small woman chirped up, her friend, the dark haired female for earlier pulled her back into the seat they were sharing away from the annoyed glares from those that didn't appreciate the interruption.

"Good job I got ya all up early, yo." Red muttered, "If it carries on like this then we'll be here awhile, not that I mind though." Jim gave the young man another venomous glare; Rude knew full well how the old rookie liked his 'beauty sleep'.

"_Yes, _it is a fighting tournament…." Tseng didn't sound happy about the interruption but he expected as much.

"Will we be judged?" another young gentleman in a floppy hat inquired.

"See what I mean, yo." The redhead smirked at Rude when he said this. Rude felt inclined to nod in agreement.

"_Yes…" _

"Can we use our weapons?"

"_Yes"_

Rude cringed at the excited look on the man's face. Rude was vaguely aware that he specialised in bombs and other explosive devises. Rude had always had an interest in explosives, though not enough to have them as a weapon of choice. Unfortunately for him and many others this gave the man a huge advantage over them and no one looked please, not even Jim who technology was better off then most but as training always provided, so long as the person could dodge the bullets a gun wasn't much use. Bombs that was different, if they engaged in close combat he could sneak small explosives on your person, or plant huge bombs it'd be hard to kept up. If Rude's memory served him well, then this man who wore big circular glasses was not only an expect with making bombs but also was skilled enough with hand to hand combat to survive close range fighting and use it to his advantage.

"However all types of ammunition or explosive weapons will be replaced with safer alternatives that are used in normal training." Tseng assured the worried rookies.

"Will we get killed?" Tabby mumbled, fear creeping into her voice.

Lyon rested a strong hand on her delicate Shoulder but his words were loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, "No one will die, we're not fighting to kill." His rich deep voice calmed her nerves slightly; she wasn't the only one to relax.

"Will…." Someone started up they were quickly cut off by a rather annoyed growl from Red who'd shot up.

"Shut up will ya and let the man talk. _Geez _he'll tell ya everything if ya let him get a word in." This instantly quietened all those about to ask something themselves. However, it earned him a few more dark glares. Not that it mattered to Red especially when Tseng viewed him with a more favourable eye despite his blatant lack of manners.

"Thank you," The second-of-command acknowledged, his own patience had been wearing thin but it was fortunate that the redhead lost his temper before he did, though the amount of authority in his tone had been surprising for the other rookies it was more than pleasing for Tseng who was reminded of what a promising individual he was despite _everything_ else. Not that he'd ever let on that he thought such things, certainly when so few other had such high hopes for the 'ruffian' of the company. "As I was saying, this is a fighting tournament which will be used to demonstrate your skills and all that you have learnt up until that point and you will do this by going against everyone in his room, excluding myself." There was a pause were the rookies glanced at the seniors who all sported menacingly sweet smiles and disconcertingly friendly waves. "It is not elimination, if you are injured there will be a injure room where you will be treated immediately to full health. I will be present to make sure you don't come to any serious harm though I imagine the respect between all of you will prevent my intervention from being necessary."

Rude noticed the sparks between Marko and John as soon as Tseng mentioned everyone having to go against everyone else, there would certainly be a grudge match to worry about and though John had improved greatly over the years whether he was a match for his more skilled brother was still uncertain. John, though still having a low self esteem liked to think he could at least give his elder sibling a run for his money. Rude always refused to give an opinion on the matter, except for him to train hard so as not to make his hopes too high by encouraging him too much. Personally Rude was thankful Tseng, possibly the sharpest man in the company, was standing by. Marko would not hold back on his younger sibling and he liked John in one piece. As for fighting everyone in the room, that worked out at over 400 fights in total. The night was certainly going to be a long one; he got tired just thinking about it.

"As you maybe aware, the number of matches seems vast but the President feels there is no point changing the rules though we are used much smaller groups as a passing event before the President retires to the party that follows. As a result, he is turning it into a much grandeur affair this year; there is the possibility that the time the party will be held may be changed. Many of the fights may not last long, five minutes is often the average but some of you are more equal in skill so it may take longer, therefore a time limit maybe placed on earlier matches. That is just to clarify some trivial matters. There will be three rounds." Tseng paused for breathe and allowed them to absorb all he'd said so far then set off again. "The first round will be you demonstrating your skills by fighting against each other. The next round will be the senior Turks demonstrating there skills in a similar fashion. Finally you will each go against each of the Turks in turn though you will have the advantage since you have a short resting period."

The Turks smiled innocently again, though Arisa and Kyo, were glaring at each other instead.

"What if we beat one of the Turks?" Marko asked. Rude rolled his eyes behind his shades, he had a feeling that was coming up and it was no surprise that the bigheaded rookie was the one to bring it to attention. Red suddenly burst out laughing at this question, receiving an annoyed scowl from the number one pupil. More coughing quickly interrupted the laughter, which the youth desperately tried to cover with his hand. Tseng shot him a concerned look but made nothing of it. His reaction led Rude to watch Red more closely, the images of last night coming back.

"Depending on who it is then you may become their partner, then again if a particular person is requested by a Turk then they may be that Turks partner instead. I hope you understand this is reasonably new tradition and is used for the executives of this company to monitor your skills and level. Your representing this department as well as yourselves, don't let us down. That's all you need to know, however if anyone has any private concerns feel free to ask." As he said this, he looked on each of them in turn making sure they took in every word.

Indeed, they had many concerns more than he'd first appreciated. The first question was when it would start but Tseng replied that the time had yet to be confirmed but they'd be informed well in advance when it was decided. His patience was out doing itself, Veld would be proud. Tseng was being kinder to them than he normally would on account on talking to them at such a tender hour for most people and the daunting prospect that awaited them this evening, the least he could do was deal with their avalanche of questions.

Unfortunately, their mounting questions and anxiety caused the volume to rise considerably high and Red was soon complaining of a headache. Rude's group were content to stay in their places, being at the far end they felt separate to the main group. No that it mattered; none had the desire to join the others as they bombarded their boss with concerns.

"The Boss is taking a hounding today," Trent commented reaching over to ruffle Red's head as he nursed his temples. "Then again I was expecting it to be worse than this, they really don't tell you a lot because most of it's last minute adjustments depending on the turn out of who's watching and their timetable."

"You mean this whole tournament is just some rich man's evening entertainment?" Jim asked, sounding a little disgusted.

Arisa sighed and nodded, "Like Tseng said it only started recently, a year or two after ShinRa went to war with Wutai I think. It's the Presidents way of showing off the strength of the company and his military force, if you like and an excuse for a business get together." She didn't sound too bothered by it, though having gone through the system herself in a much smaller group it hadn't been such a big deal then.

"Still 400 fights in he first round then possibly a 100 in the third plus the 15 in the second." Kyo calculated, "you'd think the President would make it a knock out tournament so the top of the first two rounds go against each other in the third." He conclusion was met with much agreement but his unofficial rival was more than keen to point of its follies.

"That would defeat the entire point," she began, interrupting John's encouragement to suggest such a thing to Tseng. "Everyone in this room has particular strengths and weaknesses, this time the variety is greater than ever before. Part of the purpose of this exercise to learn more of our limits, a poor match will result in a person feeling they are inferior to the rest when that mayn't be the case. The idea is that we know what we can overcome while being humbled by our own downfalls; it is not a competition. More of a learning exercise. In short it's a test to see if you can adapt to any situation and ability thrown your way and to learn how to defeat any opponent. At a time when the future of the company remains uncertain the department needs to know it's new recruits are up to scratch." When she finished she quickly took in a mouthful of air, long speeches had never been her forte though she was by no means a woman of few words.

Kyo, annoyed by the fact she'd pointed out something he already knew and that she'd taken his proposal so serious that he now appeared ignorant, clapped sarcastically. "Congratulations, that was your longest speech on record, but we're _aware_ of all that. You didn't seriously think I was going to take it up with the superior." He shook his head then added as an after thought, "and it's already a foregone conclusion ShinRa's going to win the war."

"I'm glad you're amongst the few with such ignorant believes. An attitude like that could cost you." She folded her arms, clearly not fond of the discussion. His attitude was insulting and her frustration was rising but she was unable to let him score a point against her and Kyo was feeling the same. Such characteristics Rude viewed with interest and wondered if the qualities of their person would be damaging to them.

"What? you think Wutai could possibly win. They can hardly use Materia and when Sephiroth gets back on the field their army of farm hands won't stand a chance." Kyo sounded very sure of this but Arisa wouldn't let him indulge in the feeling.

"Sephiroth is hardly dispatched to Wutai; Hojo is still doing whatever he has to do on him. As for your farm hand comment, the war has been going on for years, if ShinRa is so elite why have we not beaten them already."

Trent finally tiring of their tempers cut in before Kyo could say anything, "ShinRa is a growing company so we are just as vulnerable. Actually considering that's it the company against a entire country and rival businesses were not really in a favourable position. On the positive side we are superior in many more ways and the SOLDIER training is producing some great candidates and the companies economic success as well as other exploits," he gave the other seniors knowing looks, "the rival companies are more of a nuisance or ignorable presence."

Lyon smiled, "Soundly put though we're boring the fresh men and women," he shot Tabby a warm smile, "with this political talk. May I propose a lighter topic of discussion?"

"I second that!" Red said forcible silenced by another coughing spurt, wiping his hand with a tissue when he was done. "I don't like it when ya all start talkin' fancy, ya get enough o' that from da higher ups."

A hearty chuckle from Trent greeted his comment and the red hair was once again vigorously rustled. Red responded by attacking the big man's shins with the newspaper. "You'd do well to take a leaf out of our books and start speaking properly; coming from the slums is not something you advertise." Trent advised though his tone was far from stern and Rude was once again observing the fond regard Red was held by the others.

"I'm just speakin' naturally; being formal takes too much effort so you guys wanna cut the act out now?"

"Its no act," Lyon assured the young man, "When you discuss certain topics you speak of them with the respect and air they are due." The blonde man was smiling slightly as he spoke with a purposely-pompous air that fooled no one; in fact, they immediately began snickering.

"So if we change topics to say flirtin' rights over ya new eye candy there," he nodded at Tabby who shrank back blushing into her hand, "we can be as crude as we like, right?"

If Red had meant to make an attack on the man, it was not taken as one for Lyon remained in good humour and even resting his hand on her shoulder as he continued to smile more broadly, "I wouldn't say that. And what is this about flirting rights?"

"You know, since she's ya girl now is she off limits to flirtin' or are you gonna give me the honour, man." It was strange how the redhead could abuse such refined phrases with his rough tongue, that smirk on his face only making his suggestion that much less agreeable.

Lyon apparently used to Red rolled his eyes then said, "I would not approve" but in a tone that suggested he knew the younger man would flirt no matter what he thought. Red simply snorted and coughed a bit more.

The other seniors though aware of Lyon's obvious attraction to Tabby since he had no qualms in displaying his affections openly, had quietly promised to dissuade his affections until she was settled as a Turk. Relationships were strongly discouraged in the company it only led to problems. They knew Lyon was wise enough not to be so foolish but he was also a headstrong individual, traditional and proud. It was unfortunate he'd fallen head over heels for the plain rookie, not that he would do anything improper but as friends they'd warn him anyway. In the mean time, he was now open game to tease and poke at in the open.

"Lyon your so forward, give the girl some space," Arisa scolded, "Let her have some fun and sample what there is to offer before you smother her entirely." Her words were rewarded with a brighter blush to Tabby's cheeks and Lyon stiffening.

"I have no intention of smothering her," Lyon then quickly tried to change the direction of the conversation as Arisa looked ready to contradict him, "so do you have any concerns about tonight?"

"Yeah," Red raised his hand, "If I damage ya bride ta be will ya kill me?" The others laughed and Lyon replied with the affirmative. "In that case when on you kitten's getting' married?"

Lyon simply scowled, such a prospect, as much as he desired it, was not an option which only made him desire it more. Kyo sensing Lyon's turn quickly moved to more immediate issues. "Seriously you guys want to tell us about anything you're worried out, how about you big guy?" He looked at Rude who immediately felt thrown into the spotlight.

"I don't know what weapons the other's use, nor their style and as I don't use a weapon I'm at a disadvantage." He stated honestly causing some frowning.

"Well not much we can do to help you there, just watch and learn I guess, but that's what it's all about really. As for being weapon less, it's never done me any harm." Trent shrugged and grinned, "so long as you're good at what you do you can over come any obstacle." That sounded so profound Rude wondered if he had read it in a book.

"How about you Jimmy boy?"

Jim, who been silent for some time since he'd been absorbing their valuable information thought for a moment, "Guess the number taking part is daunting not that you can do anything about that."

"Nope," Arisa cheerfully agreed, "But you can pace yourself."

"Okay John, worried about anything?"

John, who had been mediating on his private concern since the Tournament was mention, replied miserably, "My brother."

His friends shoulders sagged, they'd been expecting as much. The sibling rivalry between Marko and John had been renowned at the academy, though he tried to make light of it, the fact he was considered inferior to his brother in _every _way bothered him constantly. It was not uncommon for his expression to change for carefree to one that mirrors the cold when a cloud passed over the sun in seconds. Such an attitude often plagued and hindered him when he needed to be the most positive and vigilant, in the past it often resulted in him failing tests.

Equally, Arisa who had read his file and knew the history but not the origin of this private competition between the siblings as well as storied she had heard from associates, eyed him sadly. She had insisted Lyon take him in his team since the man was known for helping those with confident issues or at least getting them through difficult situations and death on their final trainee mission was never a possibility in her opinion. She was intrigued as to the reasons for the deep-rooted rivalry but Lyon advised her not to pry. Being as Lyon was older and therefore wiser she respected his judgement, not even his friends knew what to do about that problem.

"You know John," Tabby reluctantly broke the silence, she'd hoped the Turks would have some advise but most were biting their lower lips. For them it was too sensitive topic to probe, but Tabby had to deal with it enough and actually thought this was John's chance to get over the self-imposed physiological barrier. "Maybe your just letting your nerves get to you."

"It's not that. I've accepted the fact I'll most probably be beaten by every other person in this room but I just can't stand another defeat against him. I'm already a failure with out _him_ rubbing it in my face." John ran a hand over his face.

"Don't be like that, I'm sure there is something you're better at than your brother." Jim had tried this tact before but it had been months ago. John had improved greatly since then but his answer remained the same.

"No. I'm not as fast, he'd smarter than me, sharper, stronger, more determined. I just can't compare. I'm the total opposite."

One would find his hopelessness frustrating, viewing him as a quitter and Kyo certainly looked ready to belt him one. Rude knew John would and always had tried every possible way to up his game but no matter how hard he tried, Marko just surpassed him. It was heartbreaking in a way to see someone you care for tear themselves up in every sense, to the point that admitting his brother got to him even though he preferred to keep that part of him private. John would always push people's assurances aside, Rude had never assured him only advised and encouraged his training during their short acquaintance, to which John responded better. Rude half-believed John humbled himself so passionately to get the stimulus to better himself, accepting that he could be better would destroy his modesty which he needed to get stronger. John, whether it true or not, believed he was less a person than Marko that it'd set in his mind and now impaired him to the degree that no matter how good he was his mentality would always stop him doing his best when competing against his brother.

"Look you know Jim how much I've trained and I've still never come close to him. I'm not graceful and I'm clumsy. I'm just…"

"You," Red finished for him dragging the attention onto him, "And not your pigheaded brother."

Finally, John cracked a short-lived smile, "Pigheaded but _talented_."

"So what does that make ya?"

John had no reply to that but the others were more than willing to fill the gap with praise. Tabby admired his control over his daggers, something she insisted she'd yet to achieve with her staff and that she was envious of his abilities. Jim backed her up re-living his finer moments of the exam and the conversation quickly changed. The more talkative rookies threw praise at each other while simultaneous bringing up their own faults.

"_Gee_ you guys have lots a faults, ya honestly good at anything" It was clear the Red was only playing with them but Jim was quick to praise the others.

"Yeah both Tabs and Johnny boy here are faster than me no matter what they say. John goes on about how slow he is and he doesn't consider how he damages me by saying such things."

"I imagine a lot o' things are faster than ya Gramps." Naturally, Jim scowled but Red was still playing with him.

"The kids right," Arisa joined in, "there's no point in concentrating on your faults unless you're going to do something about them. For now just focus on what you can do."

" If your still believing your going to fail and make a complete idiot of yourself then you're probably right," Red said, "but if ya thinking that you'll make it through and it wouldn't be so bad then you'd right about that too."

Kyo who'd been listening with some growing amusement clarified Red's meaning for the bemused rookies, "Basically believe in your selves and things _might_ turn out the way you _want_ them to." Trent agreed glad to put that matter to rest but Red insisted on the last word.

"If it's any consolation, I like you better."

John already in good humour again smiled while looking between Rude and Red. Rude had told him similar things, always meant the same sentiment, that it was better to be _him_ than try and be something he was not. Usually he'd twisted his big friend's good intentions into criticism which wasn't hard due to the way Rude tended to talk. Having Red agree in a manner liking childish innocence that refused any argument finally made him entertain everything that Rude had said to him. Rude's advice had always been the most valuable to him but now he viewed them with less a clouded mind. He saw their clarity and meaning like crystal and it actually sank in for once. Maybe he could _actually _give Marko a run for his money.

Rude seeing this from a different perspective noted the challenge in Red's eye, as he looked John up and down. The redhead had the intelligent idea of addressing John's competitive side in a wisely chosen subtle manner, a mere look and the bait was set. Now though John preferred to believe he'd been persuaded by Red's strong faith in him it was as Rude just thought the challenge of surpassing himself was more appealing and was a clever move. Rude knew he could not have issued such a thing in a more successful manner. He directed his attention to the younger man and they exchanged a wink, (a cough) and a nod to congratulate themselves.

After the long-winded affair, everyone was in higher spirits and felt relaxed enough to dwell on their own meditations for a bit while eavesdropping on the others in the room. It was during this time that Red began to cough more frequently and violently, gaining everyone's attention, which he shook off persistently and they didn't want to pursue the matter as he grew more irritable. It wasn't until he began making noises like a cat choking that they dare disrespect his wishes of 'being left alone' and Arisa moved in. She'd barely started to get up when he suddenly bolted over the sofa and disappeared behind a door not far from the closet he'd hidden in yesterday. A pause then a loud retching sound followed. The door shut.

"…I'll go check on him." Kyo sighed, slowly getting to his feet and stretching.

"You could show a little more concern." Arisa scolded, she was also standing and had the same idea in mind.

He simply glared at her and marched off in the direction of the door. They waited in silent anticipation when he knocked on the door. There was no reply. He tried to open it but it was locked. He stepped back and in own fluid motion, so fast they didn't realise what happened, until the door burst open in with a startling bang as it succumbed to his force immediately. Now the whole room was silent but Kyo merely walked inside and shut the door behind him.

Looking round the rest of the room now, Rude noticed Tseng was no longer there, an observation Lyon had also made. Standing up he addressed the man sitting nearby, the one in the floppy hat. "Thatch, where is Tseng?"

It took a moment for the man to respond, "I-I don't know. Eden had something he needed to ask in private and they left." He sounded nervous.

"Was there something you needed to ask?" Lyon gave Thatch a stern look that only made the man more nervous.

"I-I…N-No."

"So are you waiting for someone?" The man looked round the room then shook his head perhaps not trusting himself not to stutter again. "Then I suggest you get back to training and stop gawking. Get working on that weak lunge of yours unless you want the insides beaten out of you." He gave the poor man a friendly slap on the shoulder. Thatch stumbled and he quickly hurried to the training room his black and white hat swaying with his straw locks.

"You shouldn't do things like that; they're not Grunts." Trent said as more followed Thatch out the room least hey were singled out as well.

"I am aware of that, but we all need guidance I was merely advising him….more forcibly then perhaps I should but they will be considered insubordinates and treated like such for some time, that's just the way things go. As for my advice it is merely the same as what you and Kyo did yesterday, I have every right to try and toughen them up."

"I hope you didn't treat them like that on their last trainee mission." Trent knew of the older Turks well enough to guess he did, but then there were few Lyon didn't treat as younger and less able then he and he had every right to even if he was not that old himself. As a wise man once said it's not age that brings wisdom but what is learnt during whatever time on this earth you'd had.

"I merely guided them on the best course to take, to make sure they didn't mess up. Perhaps if you'd made more effort to do like wise you wouldn't have to repeat the assignment."

"Had I done anymore it would have gone against the whole point. Also it wasn't a walk in the park job even you would have struggled. Don't get me wrong I _did_ try and hint towards the correct course of action." The large Turk pointed out.

"If it was such a difficult job shouldn't that have given you more incentive to make your views known?"

"Not my fault we had an idiot that thought he knew better." Trent mumbled under his breath.

"Still you can't berate me for establishing some familiarity with my co-workers can you?"

"They're your co-workers now?" Trent sounded playfully incredulous, " I've known you longer yet I still don't get the benefit of such a title."

Before Lyon could respond in an equally teasing manner Arisa butted in, "Are you two playing with each other or just being jackasses?"

"Being playful Jackasses naturally," Trent grinned but said no more since Kyo had emerged looking considerably paler. There was a red stain on his open shirt.

The ginger haired Turk walked over to Lyon, whispered something in his ear then announced he was going to get Tseng. Before they had time to ask what was going on he had already left. Lyon also ignoring their inquiries strode to the smaller room, which Rude hoped was a bathroom. He disappeared behind the door, shutting it behind him; there was a huge dint in the woodwork.

"I'm guessing his condition is a worse then he was making out." Jim ventured but was rewarded with a sarcastic 'go figure' from Arisa. The seniors had stood up during the exchange between Lyon and Kyo but now didn't know what to do with themselves. Rude who had yet to move and inch from his place or speak a word observed the fretting of Tabby who couldn't stand the thought of one of their own in pain. It wasn't long before each ventured to the door but all were shooed away by Lyon. John who'd in the short time grown an attachment to Red tried twice.

In the end, Arisa contented herself by grilling Trent about anything that could have caused it. Of course, the rookies listened intently, Tabby and John were now sharing the couch with Jim. Arisa was sitting closer to Trent, and their voices were lower then before. Rude remained were he was, forgotten for the time being. Being closer to the Turks then the others, he caught more of the conversation.

…

"There was some drama yesterday involving Scarlett…" Trent whispered as if offering a possible reason.

"Yeah, I heard about that. You don't think-"

"That wouldn't be allowed." Trent assured her but he mirrored her concerned tone.

"Don't give me that shit, The President doesn't care and he's the only one she has to answer to."

Trent scratched the back of his neck, "Surely she wouldn't, the kid was already in no condition…any little thing would have…to do that would be…he'd be-"

"Don't say it. I would put nothing past the bitch. Tell me why was she mad at him." Arisa flickered her eyes in Rude's direction aware he could hear every word.

"A trivial matter as usual, less than what he did to her car." Trent replied coolly also giving the others the once over and contemplating asking them to leave though he knew they'd come to be concerned for the redhead's well being so wouldn't and he wasn't going to leave without finding out what was wrong with him, if only Kyo would hurry up.

"We should wait for Tseng's return then." Arisa sighed, "Though I doubted he'd tell us anything, it's not our place to know."

"Whose place is it then?" Trent counted half-heartedly though Arisa didn't answer him. Instead, she turned back to the rookies.

"Sorry about that. I guess I should ask you if you're looking forward to the evening." Her tone was full of false brightness that fooled no one. Rude, watching everyone from his seat mirrored the morning to that of a badly scripted pantomime.

"No." she almost laughed at the expected answer but controlled herself and instead smoothed her coat out while Trent carried on the conversation.

"Well you can be assured you're in a better position then we are," Trent took in their bemused expressions and explained himself. "Usually it's just one Turk against the small group of new entries and the Turk tends to win because the rookies are tired already and it's over pretty quick. There is a lot more to get through so endurance is a much more important factor and there are more Turks involved so you shouldn't over exert yourselves too much even if you'll get a lot of rests between fights. As for us Turks well we have the demonstration fights where we merely play fight until we show an opening, nothing extravagant or fancy just noticing and taking advantage at the right moment really. So we don't get as many rests as you do but I guess were more used to it." Trent concluded, unsure of who really had the advantage this year.

Arisa tried to smile, "It's hard to tell if you're better off or not but if you have a strategy you should be fine. I suggest when you fight against each other you turn it into an act, Gaia knows who many tough fights you have lined up. Might as well make the job easier for you."

"My only strategy is to not get beaten into a pulp." John offered, really none had thought of one yet.

"How can we think of a plan when we don't know what we're up against?" Rude said, he shifted uncomfortable as they all looked his way but he'd made a fair observation.

"Point taken but I think she meant how you were going to get thought the evening, your just going to have to wing the rest." They nodded in agreement to Trent but still none the wiser how they were expected to plan for the evening. They were saved from saying any more when Lyon suddenly stuck his head out the door and requested _Rude's _help.

Just as confused as everyone else was he stood up and went to see why Lyon needed him. While the others asked what was going on or tried to see inside the room Rude made his way to the Turk. As soon as he arrived, he was bustled in without hesitation and the door was quickly shut behind him. The first think Rude noticed was the artificial light was a brilliant contrast to the rising sunshine that shone in through the common rooms tall narrow windows. The second thing he noticed was the blood. It coated the walls, dripped from the sink and spilled over the toilet. Smearing the blue walls and tiled floor with wet stains, splatters and puddles. There was evidence of perhaps a struggle or disorientation that had disturbed and broken things in the room.

"It's sound proof so…" Lyon explained when he noticed Rude's attention drawn to the broken decorative bowl and the smashed sink.

Nodding Rude turned his attention on the other figure in the room. Red was squeezed between the wall and the toilet, his shirt and lower face were covered in a thick almost black viscous liquid that had just pored out of his mouth. Not thinking, he rushed forward but Lyon grabbed him.

"Don't rush in," Rude was tempted to growl at him to let go until the man lifted his shirt up to reveal a large red area that was already starting to bruise. Now Rude understood he reassessed the situation.

"Why did you want me?" his voice was so low it could barely be heard over the soft humming light but Lyon being so close heard him.

"I need more muscle but the room is small and Trent….well I'm sure you can understand." Lyon replied in equally low tones least they excite Red whose eye was unfocused. Rude noticed the bandages were stained and imagined they'd need to be replaced soon.

"What's wrong with him?"

Lyon looked Red over then a defeated expression cross his face, "I have no idea…"

"What happened?" Rude gestured towards the broken objects and blood with his head taking more caution now that the Turk sounded more worried.

Lyon took a slow breath then told him, "When I entered most of the blood on the floor was already there, he was throwing up in the sink. After a while he seemed fine and was about to come out when he suddenly jerked back and …well…" he gestured towards the walls and broken vase. "When I tried to calm him he just flipped, I'm not sure what happened. Next thing I know the sinks broken, the place is completely covered in blood and he's throwing up this strange fluid into the toilet. I think some of his older injuries have ripped open, see the blood on his shirt and the pool around him. Trouble is I can't get close enough to look at them."

"You want me to get him out." Rude looked sceptical at the idea of manhandling the redhead who looked as if he had trouble breathing, "and hold him down?"

The man nodded. "Be careful…and gentle." Lyon pressed his last words when Rude moved forward, rolling his sleeves up.

Taking steady steps he approached Red again but the man appear to have calmed down or was too concerned with his inability to breathe to give the dark, ominous looking rookie much consideration. Crouching down near him, but still far away that he wasn't in comfortable striking ranch he asked if Red was strong.

"Depends what you think is strong, you being considerably strong yourself may not agree with what I think is overwhelming. He does have a powerful kick." Lyon warned when Rude crawled in closer, he believe d if he was more level with Red he'd be less threatening.

However, no sooner was he with arms length did the man leap forward to burg more sloppy liquid from his guts. He made the mistake of trying to get closer just as Red's body suddenly tensed. Behind him, Lyon yelled something like 'he's going to flip again' but by then Rude was already in a crumpled heap on the floor, his face stinging and his head spinning.

"_Fuck _the Kid's strong." Was all he could say as he adjusted his shades, then he got up slowly and tried again. Red no longer as curled up was easier to grab hold of, though once in Rude's grasp he started to struggle and Rude let him go least he damage himself because of his efforts. That was also a mistake. No sooner had he let go Red went limp and dropped to the floor like a stone. Thanking his quick reflexes, he just managed to catch the man before his head smashed on the bloody toilet seat. Keeping a tight hold on him, he slid down the wall behind him. The lithe form violently withered and convulsed in his grasp. Nevertheless, he did his best to limit the man's movements, fully aware of the sticky dampness that seeped into the fabric of his training gear. Lyon, knowing he would be no help stayed back.

"What the hell is happening to him?" Rude yelled before his chin collided with Red's bony shoulder, "What did Scarlett do to him?"

"You know about that?" For the first time Lyon sounded surprised, he was now trying to be useful by moving the broken remain of the sink and bowl out of the way, preventing them causing any harm.

Rude pushed himself back up into a straighter sitting position as he continued to slip down the wall, "Of course, I was fucking _there_." He was lucky the situation was dramatic enough to let his sharp tongue be excused.

Lyon nodded; he looked pale and ghastly in the terrible lightening. "_You_ were the rookie that Tseng sent?" Rude nodded as he adjusted his told while Red slowly calmed down. Lyon seemed relived, he did not want anymore involved then need be. "Then you know more that I do." He came and sat down next to Rude's left side, trying to get a better look at the redhead but it was still hard and he dare not touch him yet.

Rude felt wetness on his hand that was placed over Red's left lung, more disturbingly he felt the pulse that gushed more blood into his palm. Tightening his grip with his other hand, he raised his left to show the Turk, silently demanding an answer. All he got was a "Holy Infrit!" Then the door burst open again.

Tseng and Kyo stood in the doorway, the noise of the common room filtered in. Immediately Kyo swore but Tseng swiftly silenced him with an order that involved him leaving the room. The he looked Lyon over, making a decision, he asked the Turk to leave, and then shut the door. Coming over to the pair on the floor with graceful strides as if nothing was out of the ordinary, Tseng asked how long he'd been like this.

"10 minutes, I think." Rude replied automatically, he didn't actually know. It might not have been that long but it certainly felt longer so he took an educated guess.

Tseng nodded in acknowledgment then proceed to extract the man gently from Rude's hold; Red seemed to relax into the second-in-commands touch, allowing Tseng to look him over. Then he did something that surprised Rude, he swept the red bangs from his face in a fatherly manner and whispered softly in Wutain to him until the man calmed entirely.

"He hasn't seen Hojo yet." Tseng explained, pulling a yellow sphere from his pocket, muttering the word 'sense' before swiftly swapping in to a 'cure3'. "He needs to go to the infirmary immediately."

"Will he be alright?" Rude asked, taking in the care Tseng was handling the redhead as if he was a fine Wutain doll, and the urgency of his tone.

"Yes, it's not too serious…yet." His tone darkened as he continued, "no doubt he'll be seen fit for tonight."

"You can't be-"

A sharp look form Tseng silenced him instantly, "I am. Materia is a wondrous thing and he has many other fortunate attributes that favour a speedy recovery. Do not worry about him. A few hours rest and he'll be fit enough."

Even Rude could tell Tseng didn't agree with what he was saying but he dare not argue instead he replied, "I don't understand and I can't believe you sir."

"I don't expect anymore from you. Go and get cleaned up." he rose to his feet carrying Red with him as if he weighed nothing, "The others will be in the training room."

Tseng then pulled out his PHS and made two calls, while Rude could only sit and watch distantly aware his legs were beginning to cramp. They left, leaving him to dwell on what just happened but he couldn't make sense of it.

His eyes refused to stay focused, Red must have hit him in the head but he hadn't noticed. The ache of new bruises forming on his torso, arms and face was uncomfortable but he could live with it. He knew he was drenched in Red's blood, a wide puddle of it had formed around him, and all he could think about what last night in Scarlett's room. He couldn't imagine what she'd done, what could cause this much mess. He also knew whatever Red had done he didn't deserve this. Admittedly, he was shaken. What type of company was ShinRa? What _was_ he getting himself into? It had always been happy achievements, they stopped illegal drug dealers and underground terrorists, it always felt like he'd been doing something right like when he trained for MP, but if they did things like this…

He'd never been sure if ShinRa was good or bad and now he he'd never been more uncertain. It was too late to change his path again though, so it didn't matter what he thought.

Glancing around the room again, he forced his vision into focus. Looking at the broken sink, he wondered if he could still wash his hands. Might as well try, if he made a mess it would not be any worse for the people who'd have to clean it up. He used the hot tap; it burned his skin but didn't spill over onto the floor. He watched as most of Red's blood dyed the water for a minute or two but a lot of it insistently glued itself to his hands. He examined the curious stains normal blood did make. He resorted to trying to get it off with soap. The froth and bubble were a dirty maroon shade but it worked. While he cleaned his hands, he noticed a small blue and black ball on the floor, just behind the toilet. He didn't think much of it at first except it was a little out of place but it kept drawing his attention. Therefore, when he had washed his hands instead of leaving he went to pick it up. He recognised it instantly as Red's; the youth had been playing with it earlier while Tseng had been talking about tonight.

The door clicked open behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see Arisa staring wide-eyed at the destroyed room.

"Shit."

Standing up he faced her fully but she was more interested in their surroundings to pay him much attention. The room held her in a hypnotic state of shock and he had to clear his throat loudly for her finally to notice him. "Oh! I didn't know you where here… Clean up will be here soon, you better come with me before anyone else sees you." She took a tentative step towards him, she didn't want to enter so he saved her the trouble by coming out himself. She was grateful but she was still shaking as she closed the door behind them. The common room was empty.

"I take it that doesn't happen often." He commented as she quickly headed for the bar.

"You'd be surprised, the other week someone's head exploded." He took a double take but she wasn't joking, "A terrorist group was trying out a new gas when we were sent to stop them, luckily they hadn't developed it properly and we destroyed all the research. Unfortunately, the poor soul got a face full of it at some point, we didn't detect it or know what it did exactly but we found out. A few days later his head just suddenly popped in the cafeteria all over the sushi, there was no warning or anything. I haven't been able to go back in there since."

He nodded his condolences and apologised. He didn't know what else to say to that so he inquired about her shaking. "It's alright, I've seen some gruesome things in my life but that doesn't stop it being any less of a shock, ya know?"

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Rude ventured, "I heard you talking to Trent before."

She was now rummaging in one of the cupboards behind the bar and didn't reply. He feared the clinking of glass bottles and the sound of cardboard being moved had drowned him out. So he asked again, though he hated repeating himself.

"I have an idea but only Tseng knows for sure…" she stopped at the distinct sound of Materia knocking together, it sounded like a baby's rattle.

"I thought the Turks knew everything." She smiled at him as she brought small box stacked with the glowing spheres.

"Between us all we most probably do. All the Turks know everything about all the towns on the continent, the goings on, people, everything and then some. We can't claim to know everything about all the countries but I'm sure we know more than they would like us to. If we don't know we look it up or find it out, that's part of the job. Inside however we all keep our secrets, I'm sure the commanders know everything about us. But us knowing each other well it's harder to say. And as far as the rest of the world is concerned we don't really exist."

He shot her a puzzled look and she explained while she sorted through the Materia before her, "Well no one at the academy knows what they're going to end up as when they enter do they? I'm sure in the Slums most people are aware of us, the people in the dark suits, the stuff they scare their children with until we come knocking on their door, that sort of thing. Did you know that there are secretaries that had the military training like us, see who knows where you'll end up. Loads of others, like you, switch courses while others with certain desirable skills are asked to join. Most volunteers end up as Guards, Grunts or SOLDIERs. I know that out of the twenty rookies this time less than half were volunteers off the streets. Most that fail the exams are volunteers to, so you can understand why the Turks are the least popular choice. It requires a lot more that most people have or are willing to commit. Your life belongs to ShinRa and you're no longer a part of normal society, it can be hard to make those kind of scarifies. I bet you didn't realise all that, did you, when you joined."

He nodded and she laughed a little as she pulled out some 'cure' Materia but all were less mature then the one Tseng had used. She ducked down again but continued talking, "As soon as you sign that contract you've sold your soul. Scary thought but it's true." She opened a different cupboard and carried on looking.

Coming over to stand on the other side of the counter he asked, "Would you say ShinRa is good or bad?"

She paused to consider her answer, and then went back to searching but he waited for the reply he knew he'd get. She eventually stood up, in her hands were some potions and from her lips she said, "It's not that black and white. It really depends who you ask. Talk to the ordinary Joe in the street and they'll say ShinRa is the biggest evil but if you take it from my point of view becoming a Turk was the best thing that could have happened to me."

Again, he gave her look that asked for an explanation and again she obliged. "You'll hear a lot of bad things about the Turks on the street and most of it is true. Some fools think they join to make the world a better place but really we're just high paid criminals doing ShinRa's dirty work." Her word stung him but she carried on. "I used to be in one of sector 4's most feared gangs. We were violent, we killed anyone that got in out way and did all other unspeakable things for the sake out our name. I was no better or worse then the others but the Turks, who knew everything about us singled me out as a possible candidate. At first, I turned them away with the foulest language I could think of but they didn't give up. When they came back a second time I thought they were going to shoot me, I met Tseng for the first time then. Anyway, when the others saw me talking to Turks they decided I could no longer be trusted; I was beaten practically to death. It just so happened Tseng and Shino were coming to try after me again that same day. They found me in a gutter. I expected they'd just shoot me and end my misery but they called for a Helicopter and I got the best medical care in the world. During the week I was recovering, they wiped out all the members of my old gang and I decided I'd take them up on their offer. In the end I was only swapping on way of life for another that was essentially the same thing but I got paid to do it."

"Do you ever feel remorse?" He placed the empty potion glass down; he'd drunk it during her story and felt impelled to ask.

"No, they had it coming to them. I feel a little sorry for those that just went along with the others but they're in a better place now so really they got the best out of the deal." She smiled at him again and handed over the selected Materia. "You're very easy to talk to."

"I'm a good listener." He replied, charging the green orb in his hand.

She nodded then added, "I think its more your honesty that people are drawn to. I guess it's wise you don't talk much it doesn't suit this line of work. The Shades are nice touch, keep those expressive eyes hidden."

"Expressive?" He didn't like how she seemed to know so much about him but he focused on healing for now. It wasn't long until his body was consumed with the soft green light and he felt the soothing touch as the Materia fixed his wounds. He handed it back. "You know a lot about me."

"Sure do, I know a lot about everyone." She grinned as if she was proud of it, "That's what I'm good at, people research, never forget a face." She then started putting everything away and he helped her.

"You read everyone's files?"

"All I have access to…and then some." She winked mischievous and shut the cupboard door. "I think we should go to your room and get fresh clothes for you." She started leading the way out and Rude followed keeping pace her as she hurried to the elevators.

"You only have access to five floors," she mused looking at his key card, "It's been a while since I was in an academy room. They still tiny?" The elevator door opened just as he claimed them to be quite spacious, she snorted. "Wait until you get your Turk residence after the partner ceremony, then you'll know what spacious really is."

"Partner ceremony?" he pressed the button and leaned back against the glass while she did the same.

"Yeah, it's after the Tournament, during the party that the executives hold for business associates. The rookies are meant to be the security but near the end they're called away and they get paired up with a partner, who'll also be your roommate. It's good in some ways, but being forced to live with someone is a bit awkward. My last partner was a bit of a dipstick and kept putting things in the wrong place. So many times, I wanted to strangle her but someone got there before me." She was looking through the glass at the city below them but the sad tone on her voice was enough for Rude to shift uncomfortably.

The elevator stopped and they quickly carried on to the academy. Arisa took him through a different door, which led to the same corridor he'd passed through with Mr. Surph before going off into different groups for their supposedly last trainee mission.

"So did all the seniors taking part lose their partners?"

"Gaia no!" She exclaimed, "Trent and Kyo are already partners didn't they tell you?"

He nodded apologising for forgetting but she didn't seem to mind. They carried on in silence; Rude wanted to ask her so many questions but waited until they were in his room. She played with her hair as they walked, occasionally pointing out changes or objects that she remembered but they didn't have far to go as Rude soon found. "Was that a short cut?"

"Sure was, your room is C529." he nodded and she smiled, "I checked it in your file."

They entered the room and she seated herself on his bed while he got some clean clothes out, "What does it say in my file?"

She smirked, "You don't know?" he shook his head making her smile even more, "I'm not really supposed to say but when have I ever stuck to the rules. Did you know every room in the building has cameras everywhere? The walls have eyes and ears and you're pretty hot in a towel." Naturally, he halted whatever he was doing and stared at her with his mouth open. She burst out into sniggers. "I was on surveillance this morning; Don't worry I'm not a crazy stalker."

"So I guess you can't tell me then." He replied checking for cameras but he couldn't see any.

She shrugged, "Depends what I tell you. For example, I know all about you and Youji, I know what you wanted to achieve in life and trust me that isn't going to happen not matter how good your intentions are. I know about your eye problem…"

"Does it really say they're expressive?"

"Nah, Trent told me that. When you all got back, we got together to talk about our groups while he was in the infirmary. Had nothing put praise for you except your eyes betrayed what you felt or thought too easily which was funny becuase your face never gave anything away. He thought it was a real shame. When you turned up in those glasses, well he was laughing his head off when he told us about it."

"Was it that bad?"

"Awful. Now hurry up and get changed already. I don't think there are cameras in the bathroom." She assured him. Not entirely convinced, he did as he was told anyway, no point being paranoid about it. He threw the soaked, uncomfortable clothes into the laundry basket and stepped into the shower for the second time. It didn't take him long to change and he was out in fifteen minutes.

Arisa was looking round his room when he walked in. The way she looked at things made him feel uncomfortable as if she was reading thing's from the way the room was and piecing the bits together. He had never felt such an intrusion into his privacy.

"He woke you up this morning didn't he?" she asked smiling while pulling a red strand of hair from the top of the drawers and holding it up for him to see.

"Do you know his real name?" He didn't like how everyone seemed to purposefully avoid the redheads name.

She giggled, "I think I do, but his files are off limits to me I'm afraid. He said I can all him whatever I want though."

"He told me the same thing," he mused, "What do you think it is?"

"_Oh, _That would be telling. " she smiled and pointed to a suit on his bed, "for later, when you get your new apartment you'll get a new wardrobe as well so enjoy wearing it while you can."

"What's the big secret about his name anyway?" Rude insisted, changing his shoes to a clean pair and keeping a watchful eye on her. "Mr. Surph calls him Red."

"No secret only I think he just has fun not telling people and by the time they find out the nicknames stuck. You'll hear people refer to him by so many different names you're not sure if they're talking about him or not. Loads of people don't actually know his name anyway and automatically call him whatever they want, that's what started it off I imagine. It's just a game to him and it's fun to play along and watch people guess." She grinned and opened the door. "As for Mr. Surph, he isn't the most imaginative of people, why do you think he's stuck as an examiner?"

He couldn't help but smirk slightly at her comment and replied, "So you do know."

"Maybe."

Before he left he went to his nightstand and placed the small ball on the side then followed Arisa to the training rooms, they never mentioned Red once along the way.

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A/N: Hoped you liked it though criticism would be great so I know how to make the next chapter even better 8D


	10. Tournament I

Title:

Authoress: Vitalini

Rating: T

Summary: See chapter 1

Warning: language and violence but its all pretty weak.

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, except my characters.

Author's note: I should apologise for the wait. I got bored with it, edited three times and then at the end of last year my computer crashed and when it was fixed everything was wiped off it, this included so I had all the fun of redoing it, again. Also I'm been loaded down with work, still am but I'm stuck with that so hello Fanfiction! I'm sorry the writing is of a poor quality, I just need to get this out the way to start on the better and more exciting chapters. Its dragging on so much! Please try and enjoy. i tried to do some different things in this chapter (spice it up and aliavte my boredom with it) so please tell me if it works or not.

Lastly I don't think my grammar has improved much, just a warning and there may be spelling mistakes I've missed (so sick at looking at this chpater) but I would also like to apologise in adavnce for them, wherever they maybe.

* * *

After the morning drama the day past with no more than a slight hiccup when Tabby thought she'd broken her thumb but it turned out only to be slightly dislocated at the IP joint, whatever that was. Of course, the tendons and ligaments were snapped and torn. But like Tseng said, Materia was a wondrous thing and she was back in action in just over half an hour with her digit just a little stiffer. 

It was now only one hour before he would have to go to the common room, He imagined the other's were still resting or doing some kind of mental preparation for the fights ahead, while he was sat there stroking the small blue and black ball in his hand.

He was trying to force his head to empty but it refused to co-operate. All he could think about was Red, why did he have to go and get seriously ill, now he could not concentrate on anything properly. Taking a deep breathe he tried again. This time instead of clearing his mind, a fruitless exercise when there was so much swimming around in it, he focused on redirecting his thoughts. In the end, he settled on reviewing the days training, minus Tabby's injury. The seniors had trained in a different room to them today but that didn't stop his group working themselves to the ground trying to improve in the small time they had left. Rude focused on his own game more than the others for once and later had gone off to his own corner to practise by himself. He'd used this time to observe others; the short glimpses he managed to catch between his own flying kicks and punches were enough to make him slightly nervous about tonight. Reliving what he'd seen and his own adrenaline rush, a giddy anticipation grew in his chest.

The training had tested more than his strength; his sanity had been threatened as well. He could forgive his friends curiosity about what happened in the bathroom, they'd seen the blood on Kyo and Lyon, and they weren't stupid. Arisa had informed him of the made up story to explain away the evidence. It was convincing and he'd stuck to it but they were trained Turks, if not experienced enough to hold the title properly they still knew their stuff and no rehearsed lie would sway them. Still their questions, however trying, hadn't chased him away, it was Marko. Just thinking about it boiled his blood.

…

"_Come on Rude, Kyo gave us that fairy tail. We know it's not true." John twirled his daggers before he took another pretend swipe for Rude's shins, in a real fight had he been able to get close enough to cut the tendon__s it would be game over for the bigger Rookie. _

"…"

"_Just tell me the truth, man." He feinted a roundhouse kick before swinging in the opposite side with his dagger. Rude didn't step out th__e way this time. He brought himself in and under his opponents arm, grabbing the limb to act as a leaver for a swift sacrifice throw. John still kept hold of his weapon and Rude didn't give himself enough momentum to follow through with the grace he would have liked so abandoned the concept to get out the way of the small, pointy weapons. _

"_A violent coughing fit caused him to tear open some of his old injuries." He didn't know if it was true, the way he was told the lie it made him feel that even this highly plausible explanation was just that, a lie. He had a feeling the coughing and old wounds opening internally were due to whatever Scarlett had done to him. _

"_I don't believe you! I bet it had something to do with that mad woman's punishment. We heard the seniors talking to__, you know." John glared at him but Rude kept his face as emotionless as ever, the shades forming a barrier to the only part of him that would have let his surprise show. Still John persisted, "You seem to know what's going on, and we want to know." _

_Rude just managed to bloke an aggressive lunge for his throat and silently marvell__ed at John's improved strength though most of it came from his frustration. "I understand that but I know as much as you do about it. He was coughing fit to burst and maybe he did, literally." _

"_That'__s fucked up Rude and you know it." _

"_Oh my, is my dear, innocent brother swearing!" Marko's annoying voice sounded too close for comfort. Looking round they found Marko observing them with his two lackeys. "Mother will be most distraught when I tell her. She may even feel the need to take you home straight away."_

_John __looked ready to pounce but had enough sense to not fall for his Brothers bait; he'd learnt that the hard way. "This isn't School; she can do no such thing." Glaring venom at Marko, he began to turn away but halted as Jordo's silky voice trailed over to him. _

"_Running away, eh?" _

"_Save your energy for tonight." quickly cut in before things turned ugly Rude stepped between them, he didn't need the siblings going at it each other now. He shot Jordo a dark look wondering why the man was provoking his friend. Naturally, as a superior passed by Jordo pretended not to be involved anymore but he stayed by Marko, whho didn't appear to want to move on just yet. _

_At length neither side said anything __promoting John, the most impatient, to ask, "What do you want?" _

"_We don't want anything," Marko stated looking down his nose at his brother, "I just heard you talking about that…what's his name? …the redhead." _

"_What's it to you?"_

"_I'm your elder brother ain't I?" the false caring in his words was sickening, "__It's my duty to make sure you don't do anything stupid. I would not get involved with that idiot if I were you. He deserves all he gets, acting like that around his superiors. He wouldn't last three weeks." Marko's eyes narrowed as he talked, his tone becoming more serious. _

"_I'd prefer that idiot to you any day." John spat back, shaking with restrained rage and Rude stuck out a hand to rest on his friend's arm in the hope it would calm him down a little. _

_Marko didn't seem the le__ast bit fazed by John's stubbornness. "Stay away from him or I will make you keep your distance. You are an embarrassment enough with out ruining the family name entirely by associating with complete morons and failures worse than what you already go around with." _

_He said all he had to say and left Rude__ with the dilemma of unleashing John and getting them all into trouble or to keep hold of the furious man he'd instinctively grasped. Rude's revengeful side liked the former option but his logical and humane side kept his arms tightly wrapped around his friend's arms until they were out of sight. _

_He watched __Marko's retreating back through the figures of Doug and Jordo, equally infuriated as John but smart enough to keep his head. If he hadn't been staring so intently he might have just missed Jordo giving them a discrete wink before disappearing out of the room along with the others. Only then did he let John go as the smaller man began a new stream of profanities that would defiantly make his mother swoon if Marko was still here to hear report back to her. Not that he would actually do that. _

_Feeling the need to release some__ steam and not wanting to give the others some nasty injuries he announced he'd be training on is own from now on. Of course, John protested but he silenced him by destroying the first punch bag he came across with a single well-aimed punch. Then his friend left him in peace. _

…

The anger returning to him reminded him of what beating Marko would prove. He couldn't believe he was regarded a failure or an idiot and the certainly couldn't see the others as such thinks, by beating the number one student he'd show him John was with the right crowd. However, he couldn't stand what Marko said about Red either. The Kid had saved that Jackasses skin and _that was_ all he could say about him. He didn't really know the redhead very well but he could bet his life that he wasn't a failure despite whatever else he might be. Maybe he was being big headed considering he had not fought Marko for over a year and the number one student was that for a very good reason. But he'd trained hard, and the hours of training today made him feel more than ready to rise to the challenge.

Placing the toy down, he rubbed his eyes beneath his shades before deciding to remove them all together, after all, he kept his room dark out of habit so the shades just made the places darker than necessary. In the dim lighting, he could make out the worn furniture and beside him the outfit Arisa had left for him, now was not the time to get angry but to get ready; but there was something he had to do first.

Taking a faded photo from beneath his pillow, he manoeuvred it to view under the Mako light coming through his small window. Gently he traced the familiar, wrinkled features of his old master, almost in the same way he'd caressed the ball before. Absorbed by the man's sharp, dark eyes and creased but proud smile as he gripped the strong shoulders of a much younger Rude. Grinning down at the aged face the fury that had accumulated inside was washed away as new emotions swept over him. If only _he_ could still be here to give his advice or approval. At the very least, he wished he had more than just this single photo of the man that had saved him from a life on the streets, taught him martial arts and the value of his own fists over any weapon but most importantly what a real father was supposed to be. He wished over and over, that he'd been strong enough to take revenge or even to get there earlier and perhaps prevent his death.

But wasn't that the same old story?

Perhaps had he been able to go with Youji or somehow have stopped him going in that helicopter, he could have kept his promise to his parents. Hindsight, like Materia, was a wonderful thing so there was no going back now. Then again he didn't have much choice anymore; Arisa had described her journey of becoming a Turk as a one-way rollercoaster ride with more bumps in it than a Mideel mineshaft. So now, he was in the system and fulfilling someone else's life he could only try to make it work. He could never go back to his life, even if he had the choice. There was no one to welcome him back if he tried.

'_You said you would protect him, why didn't you?'_

He was never going to make any more promises; from now on, it was just him and the long road ahead. Finally he got up to change. Finding that the Turk had picked his best suit was only another small fact that seemed to please him more. The fresh, crisp, fabric complimented his private declaration of a fresh start.

Feeling more content than before he took a moment to admire the handiwork of the deceptively, simple suit. The designer must have taken great pains to make the excellent garment; it was suitable for all aspects for the job yet retained a business and professional look. Certain differences made the suits distinctly recognisable even in the slums. Firstly and most obviously was the zip in the Jacket instead of the buttons, which made it more of a cross between an outdoor Jacket and a suit Jacket. It was this way for practical reasons, it was less likely to catch on things for a start and easier to undo in a hurry. Secondly the Slacks were just that little bit loose and lighter making them wrinkle with ease but allowed unrestricted movement and could even stretch just that extra bit if need be. Thirdly, the style fitted the body and simultaneously hung loose, making them comfortable in any type of field. A little fact people probably wouldn't want to know was that the breathable fabric never seemed breathable enough, as Jim could testify to, but the tailor had tried their best. People were unlikely to notice the subtly differences between the real Turk uniform and what the Rookies paraded around in. He couldn't wait for the new suits, better quality and possibly more breathable fabric if that was possible.

Shaking his head he quickly got dressed, half an hour to spare was more than enough time than he needed. There was no reason to hang around anymore, time to go to the common room. They actually found out earlier today that it was more of a small staff room for the employees on that floor when they couldn't be bothered going up to the main one several stories up. It was apparently the first time the company had to deal with so many rookies and where to put them was a problem, it had only been a day or two but they were already under everyone's feet on that floor since making it the rookies HQ. By tomorrow they'd have access to more floors of the ShinRa Tower.

He met no one on the way and not speaking to those already in the room he made a beeline to the back and waited for the others to turn up. You'd probably think it was rude that he would walk by as if none of the others existed but by now they were used to him and his unconsciously rude tendencies. It was clear the Seniors weren't coming, lifted of their duties to watch over their Rookie groups there didn't need to be here with them, they had better things to do anyway. Being part of the program to introduce the new Turks they were relieved from their normal work except trivial jobs such as surveillance and filing, while the Rookies did whatever they did. The idea was they were available at anytime if needed, so Arisa said but her tone suggested it was an unnecessary precaution. Rude guessed it was either a perk for having to help with the introduction and the ending tournament or they didn't want to send them on missions were they wouldn't come back and leaving them to give the awkward explanations.

His 'crew' only just managed to arrive a minute before Tseng, running down the hall to make it. The Second-in-command was early. Apparently the President had grown impatient, no doubt that wasn't unusual. So they were unceremoniously rushed to the Arena, only slowing when they neared the exit to the tunnel where they began marching down. Until now, it had seemed like an unreal blur but as the roaring of the unseen crowds penetrated his skull, the realisation of the whole thing hit him like a bucket of cold water. Performing in front of crowds wasn't his forte. Not to mention the significance of the evening when he thought about it, their whole reputation could be made or destroyed tonight, before most of the company no less. They kept walking into the ever-growing light; once again, he was thankful for the shades. Bursting through the light as the cool air pushed against them and the cheers of the crowd rattling his sense he felt his insides tingle with rising excitement. Tonight he would prove himself. Stepping into the Arena there was a formal pause to let the undistinguishable mass have a good look. For a heart beat Rude closed his eyes, taking in the shouts and allowing the anticipation flow around him.

The cold rushing air of the tunnel, the numb senseless journey here was forgotten in the noise that could rival Leviathans mightiest cry. Never had anything felt so real or oppressing. Despite the pressure of being watched and the smell of hundreds of people packed into the relatively small space he felt the liberation that came over one that taken the final step towards a new turn in their life, there was no turning back. His colleges had their own inner turmoil for whatever reasons but being made a fool of was at the back of everyone's mind. Those who were already down to business currently eyed the competition they had never faced before.

Jim observed his taller friends unnaturally calm state. The older Rookie was used to Rude's expressionless features but the completely unfazed, aura the shaded man emitted was curious, he was sure even Rude would feel a little daunted. They made their way over to the benches situated close to the circular platform at the centre of the Arena.

------------------------

"You should be in bed." Ignoring her, I continued to stare blankly at the view outside. We'd been through this before she left, but I still ignored her advice, her reason and her desperate voice at my defiance. I didn't need this. She sighed loudly then went over to straighten her bed, preparing the sheets so I could easily slip back into them once I was done being difficult. While she was doing that, I felt the heat of her gaze roam over my mummified body. Wrapped almost entirely in bandages with only slithers of unmarred skin showing through the gaps; in some ways I did look like those monsters Tseng used to tell me about but that was another story.

I could tell she was concentrating more on my smooth skin through the white linen wraps and I knew what she was thinking – no - hoping. She was hoping the doctors, Materia, Mako and whatever other healing remedies the building possessed would make the wounds and scars disappear. For most of us, scars were reminders and we didn't need anymore of those.

Personally, I wasn't bothered, as I stood shirtless leaning against her window with the early evening sunlight pouring over me I could only think of the night ahead. I was alive, what more could I ask for. She was still jabbering on about my health, orders as well as other such junk. Sighing loudly I broke her stream of common sense for a brief second, I hadn't said anything for a while and I didn't want her thinking I was going to yield easily. "Did you bring it?"

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw her pretty face fall a fraction. "I don't know why you want it, if Tseng found out…"

I bit my lip, Tseng would probably flip but I couldn't stand lying around doing nothing like everyone wanted me to.

"You're not going to rat on me are ya?"

Turning round to look her in the eye, wearing what I hoped was my best puppy face; I was rewarded with her stern expression crumpling into a smile. "Of course not, but you have an unhealthily obsession with that laptop."

I grinned to myself as she retreated to her lounge. To be honest I didn't think she would actually go and fetch it for me. No one was going to guilt trip me into being bedridden and useless… for another few hours anyway. As a gesture of good will, I slunk back under the covers. Drawing the wonderfully cushioned and soft duvet up with me as I sat in an upright position using her many pillows as back and arm rests as well as a harder head comforter as a make shift desk.

She took her time, knowing she was doing it on purpose only made me grin more. I could wait; I would get what I wanted eventually. Snuggling into my makeshift nest, I relished in its comfort and warmth a little more than I should but it'd been ages since I'd relaxed in a bed this soft. In danger of dozing off, I called out, "I don't have an unhealthy obsession with it, and I _haven't_ given it a pet name yet…" to anyone else I'd probably appear slow but she knew me well enough to giggle good naturedly as she returned to my side with the prize I longed for. "Besides Reeve gave it to me." I added lamely.

She smiled at the last bit. "I know, and just because I gave my shuriken a name doesn't mean I'm obsessed with her." She pressed the laptop firmly into my hands her tone both sweet and stern.

"I'm sure Rekka will be very upset about that." Shrugging off my playful comment, she set about puffing her pillows for me as I busied myself with the laptop. A red light flashed in the corner and I groaned, "the batteries low." It was just my luck.

"Here I'll attach it to the mains for you." Immediately she was pulling out all the wires from its bag and plugging them in, efficient as usual. "Why do you want it anyway?"

"Check out the competition."

"They don't expect you to fight in your _condition._" I bit my lip again, I had no idea she didn't know but then most people probably thought it was a given I wasn't taking part anymore, I hadn't been assigned a team and the recent scares with my health automatically took me off the list in their minds. I was pleased the higher ups still viewed me capable, a few individuals had caught my eye and to sit on the sidelines would dissatisfy my curiosity.

"Look Cissnei, its boss's orders and I'm a big boy now I can look after myself." I grinned away my surprise as she gave me a disbelieving look. The revived laptop glowed and I immediately set to work, there was little time and I needed all the information I could get.

"I don't believe that for a second," Cissnei took a seat next to me on her bed and leaned over to see what I was doing. "You've hardly changed a bit."

"Hmm?"

"Well at the orphanage you insisted on being independent even if you didn't have a clue how to look after yourself."

She nudged me playfully, but I twisted out of her way and replied, "That your excuse for mothering me because if my memory serves me well, I recall surviving a year on the streets by myself."

"This coming from the person who can only remember vague parts of his childhood," she sighed then frowned, "What do you mean mothering you?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, you haven't changed a bit either."

"I'm just looking out for you." Her tone was foreign to me I could not quite place it though the idea was clear enough and I knew those sentiments well.

"I'm fine, _really_. You should look after yourself more instead of worrying about everyone else all the time." My words were followed by an awkward pause. It was her turn to say something so I let her mull over the things in her head as I opened the files I wanted. The sound of my fingers stroking the keys filled the room for a while but at length she said something.

"I thought you looked over everyone's records."

"I did." Our voices were surprisingly quiet, though I didn't understand her mood it leaked into me and I imitated her soft voice, "I'm just double checking some interesting files."

A few key strokes later, the screen changed. "You hacked into surveillance!" Her warm breath blew against my ear at her exclamation, both impressed and shocked. I took a little pride in her reaction. "You shouldn't do that, its high security for a reason."

Again, I shrugged off her gentle scolding, it was hard to tell if she was mad or not. "I'm just looking at the training room and the Arena." I scanned the screens watching the rookies practise, judging their movements and searched for patterns. I already knew their strengths and weakness, I knew where to be careful and when to push them, and I knew whom I was going to have problems with. Manipulating them on the stage would be easy enough, they didn't lack talent or brains but their skill was still beneath ours. Technique wise I was still superior for now and that I would have to use that to my advantage though I had the issue of more blind spots than anyone else. I knew my skills would be limited tonight but hopefully I wouldn't need them all. I dare not underestimate any opponent though I had the impression I could take it easy with some. Thankfully, I knew my injuries better than they did, I could take risks that they probably wouldn't expect me to and for that I still had a trump card up my sleeve. Switching to the watch the Arena fill up I eyed the seats with disgust. This pathetic ritual, a recent idea of the executives to put on a show for Shinra supporters was still in its trial period and there was talk of it ending. I sneered at the screen, it had been a stupid idea and the selected mortals were merely pawns for their amusement, but then in the end, we all were. It was almost a sin to mix the truly talented with the weak minded in such events but it severed as a less bloody, final crack into the new recruits. Admittedly a soft touch scheme and unrealistic in comparison to what they were going to do as Turks. Those who were already part of that world didn't have to be put through this method, thus undermining the whole thing anyway. Nothing was ever simple but it was fun to watch and I'd enjoyed the twisted games the format laid out for me to play. "They're using the circular platform." An interesting choice, limited space making it difficult for long distance fighters to get a good range but even close combatants would have to be careful not to go over the edge.

"Are they? You like that one don't you?" I grinned evilly as I mused over how this setting would work for me. Obviously, I needed to keep my eyes open for every trick and opening offered my opponent. Some of the others would also favour this bare playing field, there was no added complications and your focus could be solely on your foe but equally they kept their eyes on you. No hiding places meant it was difficult to hide your actions but I was a master in discrete movements and the open staged suited me fine. In fact, given any setting I could perform, that was our job and the seniors' unfair advantage. "Just promise me you won't go all out."

I glanced at her; the atmosphere had become too heavy for my liking. "I promise…" My sudden cheerfulness failed to displace the melancholy mood but my quick observation and childish disgust of a person slyly picking his nose earned me a smirk.

"You can be very immature sometimes."

"That's why you love me." The worry in her voice had eased a bit but I'd finally pulled her from her mood as she rolled her eyes at my antics.

"_Sometimes_. Oh they're coming down now." My attention returned to the screen and I watched the rookies quickly march through the corridors; the cameras automatically trailing their movements for me.

"Yeah." I held back a snicker at their hurried gait _the president must be impatient_.

Cissnei's arm slipped round my shoulders as we watched the people on the screen. "Still think you're going to be up for it?"

"I'm going to have to be aren't I?"

She didn't say anything but pulled me into a quick embrace before hurriedly quitting the room. Leaving me muse over what I was about to see.

--------------------------------------

Sitting on the benches Rude wanted to shrink away from the staring eyes of the crowd. He didn't understand why they being made a spectacle, they were trained for mostly secretive work so why were they in the spotlight? For them it was uncomfortable though he imagined their SOLDIER counterparts would be more at ease in this situation. Of course performing under pressure something this career would require daily so in some ways it made a little sense. They didn't know it yet, but this would be nothing compared to what they'd face in the field or even in the office. There was the comfort of the crowds being so far up they couldn't see them properly but it made you wonder how they expected to see anything from such a distance, especially those that disappeared all together as the stands stretched further up.

Only one place could view the proceedings without causing strain on the eyes, it was also the only place with any distinction in the monotonous setup. The wall directly opposite where they sat had morphed halfway up into an elaborate balcony. No doubt that was where the President was, enjoying in every sense, the best seat in the house.

Sitting at the back of the five benches set out Rude caught a few small glimpses of the large and imposing figure of the President, the man they were going to risk their lives to protect. He was too far away for the man, who was practically dictator of the East Continent, to make any impression on him though his first thought was that his employer was portly.

"I'm going to wet myself."

Looking to his left, he regarded Jim with a raised brow. The older man certainly looked like he needed the bathroom. Nervous sweat already made his face glisten; his eyes were darting from the crowds to the other rookies with obvious anxiety.

"Its just nerves but if your quick you can sneak out and no one will notice." John whispered, not looking too great himself. "I wouldn't mind joining you actually."

Rude could only shake his head as neither of them moved. Despite what John said with all eyes upon them and it would be obvious if they left. Besides what ever worries they had about fighting, it wasn't enough to risk the punishment they'd get for leaving.

"I knew this was going to be an event but I didn't realise they were going to make us a spectacle." Tabby had her hands pressed so hard against her cheeks they'd gone a distinct rosy colour.

"Got to keep the bigwigs happy though, haven't they?" John muttered, still eyeing the crowd which consisted of a large portion of the ShinRa departments, the executives and business associates, the latter being considerable fewer.

"You'd wonder why they'd bother watching us make fools of our selves." Rude looked up to see Robin sitting in front of them; he had turned round to join their conversation.

Lithia, who had unsurprisingly sat next to the short, rusty haired man added, "I knew it was going to be big but this just seems a little…"

"Eccentric?" Jim jumped in, hitting the nail on the head.

Rude wished the officials would get a move on and start this; the tension around him was becoming unbearable.

Eventually there was movement up on the balcony. Tseng's head was just visible as he walked over to the President and said something to him; he then walked to the edge of the balcony. In one fluid movement, he launched himself over the side, landing perfectly on the raised, circular stage. The seemingly suicidal action quietened the crowd and the nervous rookies. Above the Commander gave a nod and Tseng raised his hand, formally commanding everyone's attention. The air was so thick with anticipation so thick, it was almost visible.

"We will now begin." Speaking into the small mouthpiece his deep voice rang through the arena. There was a huge cheer and then he began welcoming and explaining the rules and basic events of the evening to the crowd. Rude listened with half an ear, as the others continued talking around him, they didn't need to hear it all again.

"I can't wait to get this over with," Robin muttered darkly, "Why is it so late in the evening?"

"It's just like going the theatre or something to them isn't it?" Lithia replied her eyes narrowing darkly. It did seem very degrading that they were being used as a form of evening entertainment but what could they do about it. Rude imagined it must be harder for those like Lithia who'd battled it out on the streets, what did she have to prove to these people?

"…Now let stage one commence." More cheering and clapping followed the raven-haired Turk as he joined the rookies. He unclipped his microphone, but left the small ear piece attached. Tseng's last words were for them only. "Thatch, Ricky, you're first up. Give it your all."

There was no need for the crowd to know identities of participates. Those that were analysing their performances knew who was who, that was as far as it needed to go. He gave a supportive nod to the two men as they rose. It was quite amusing to see the men walk side by side. Ricky was the lanky man Rude seen numerous times before. He was the tallest out of them all, with long shoulder length dark hair that he had allowed to curl at the ends, his fringe covered one of his brown eyes but he was fairly plain besides that. Thatch was more interesting to look at, gangly with straw like hair and floppy hat. He looked very much like a haunted scarecrow, with dark lines round his bright, brown eyes and a pale gaunt face.

They stood opposite each other on the stage; Thatch already had his spear out, twirling it impatiently in his hand.

Once Ricky was ready, Tseng, who had followed them up, motioned for them to start and quickly leapt out of the way.

Ricky was immediately on the offensive but Thatch easily danced away from the well aimed "bullets". At least Ricky was stooping his opponent from getting close enough to try anything.

"He's going to run out of ammo soon," Lithia commented after a few minutes of Thatch dodging the hail of pellets.

"At least he's being more conservative with it; he still has time yet to make his move." Robin replied optimistically, he was still straddling the bench, but he was completely focused on the fight.

"True, but he better make it soon. That Thatch guy is still armed and unless he manages to get rid of that spear, he'll be in trouble."

"Thatch _is_ fast on his feet isn't he?" Jim noted, enjoying the advantage of easily seeing over Robin's head.It was a true point, the gangly male would he hard to keep up with, but considering what Lyon said he was weak when he came to force.

Ricky did run out of 'bullets', and in the split second he took to reload Thatch was already on him, knocking the weapon from his hands. Ricky kicked out, catching Thatch on the side. There was a rapid exchange of blows, as they wrestled over the spear until Thatch pinned the taller man down, pressing the pointed end of his spear into his throat. It was over. There was a loud cheer as they parted, Thatch helping Ricky to his feet.

That was the first of many gruelling matches. Some were painful to watch while others you couldn't tear your eyes away. Whatever, it was immediately obvious who were the better fighters and unfortunately Jim, John or Tabby weren't amongst them. Then again that rookie Ricky wasn't fairing any better.

Another ten fights passed, Jim had already been beaten twice and the inquisitive girl from this morning defeated John. It had been close but she had caught him on the shoulder, with one of the replacement bullets. This lead to the shocking discovery that they'd changed them, now the part of the body that was hit became paralysed for a certain length of time. With only one arm to fight with and in shock, it was easy for his opponent to get in and point her rifle at his head, ending the match.

"Next up Rude and Tick."

_Finally _Rude thought. He had been secretly eager to begin despite his friends crushing defeats. Seeing the others battle had excited him and he'd been getting stiff sitting down all that time. Walking up to the platform his took a swift glance at Tick coming up behind him. He recognised him as the Bomb expert. As they faced each other, Tick took a moment to push his thick glasses back onto the bridge of his nose, but really he was disguising the more subtly action of withdrawing a small device from his pocket. Not fooled by the distraction Rude got ready to jump back.

"Begin."

Both opponents leaped back, giving each other curious looks. Tick no realising Rude had anticipated his first plan, though Rude wasn't sure as to why Tick was retreating. He remembered Tick doing the same thing to Jim. He had got in close to plant the 'bomb" which exploded to produce smoke and a net which paralysed those caught, effectively ending the fight. Tick moving back was a surprise; Rude needed to rethink his next move. Watching his opponent's feet he realised Tick was meandering closer to him. Rude moved away, constantly eyeing for any sign of a bomb. Soon they had gone almost full circle and neither had done anything.

Tick's lip twitch, making Rude's alarm bells ring. He stopped in his tracks and glanced at the floor, but there was nothing to suggest a trap. Sensing something was up he looked at Tick again, only to find a flashing ball flying in his direction. Jumping to the side, he avoided the explosive, which set off more. He was surrounded by flashing and engulfed by choking smoke, it was a miracle that he was able to dodge the net that's sprung out from under his feet. As if realising his trap had failed, Tick suddenly came hurling through the smoke, fist balled ready to knock Rude off the podium. On instinct Rude grabbed the fist as it sailed towards his face, twisted round and reaching for the Tick's elbow, he flung the lighter man over his shoulder. Tearing off his jacket he threw that it the same direction, there was a muffled yelp, followed by a small explosion. It seemed Tick had finally planted a bomb on him after all. Stepping out of the smoke, he found the man with his jacket draped over him, trapped in the net that still crackled with electricity.

Tseng immediately appeared next to the fallen man. He bend down, cutting the net with a special knife immediately ending the paralyse effect. Rude moved forward to help Tick to his feet, reclaiming his jacket in the process. The next pair was called up, Rude had to assist Tick to his seat. He nodded to Lithia and Robin as they walked passed him, they returned the gesture but they looked at him with new admiration. Tick was most apologetic and took the defeat well, surprised that Rude had seen passed his plan and managed to turn it against him. Ticks friends quickly rose to take him off Rude's hands allowing the bald rookie to retake his place at the back.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Jim slapped him on the back in greeting.

John and Tabby were just as pleased, discreetly giving him high fives. He liked how _their_ behaviour was far more contained than usual. Jim being Jim acted immature no matter the situation so long as his life wasn't at immediate risk.

"You have no idea what a shock it was when he suddenly came flying out…"

"Throwing your jacket in his face was classic…"

"You're the best!"

Too bad they still went on like broken radios.

"Hey Rude!" Turning round to face the voice Rude found himself facing a rookie he had never spoken to before. The man had a pleasantly handsome face and he was currently smiling at him, "Nice one."

The group blinked at the man as he returned his attention to the fight. Rude couldn't help but feel slightly pleased at the unexpected congratulations, though he kept his face impassive as usual. The guy was too close for the other's to make a comment but he had made them quieten down, so he could watch Lithia and Robin in peace.

There was no need to worry about the current fight since the outcome was obvious. Lithia may have been a better fight but she was being easy of Robin who was only acting particularly aggressive. They moved in a rehearsed and deliberate manner, the crowds were pleased at the display, perhaps not aware that the fighters weren't really trying. As Rude expected, it ended in a draw.

With the end of the fight Tseng called out the name of the next contestants, "Tabby and Kito."

His heart dropped, looking over at Tabby she looked as he felt. Her face had paled, fear evident on her face. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze, hoping to restore some confidence in her. She got up and shuffled towards the stage, the others clapping her on the back, their words of encouragement following her all the way.

Kito was already waiting calmly for her to take her place. He looked imposing, with his large scythe resting on his shoulder. He'd proven he didn't need it to fight but liked to have it there to intimidate those he was going to take on. He'd literally beaten some of them single handily; he had yet to use the weapon in battle.

In short, Tabby didn't stand a chance. She made a effort to look unaffected and was somewhat strengthen by her friends cheers. Rude watched as she tried to make a move only to be continuously blocked. The man wasn't being too hard on her but being forcefully enough to show he wasn't playing around. Rude was slightly grateful to him, at least he wasn't cruelly brushing her aside and dismissing her efforts which he could have easily done.

Kito even went in for some moves himself but if Tabby was good at anything it was defending and she parried all of his moves, but she tired quickly. Eventually he caught her staff mid-swing and pushed it away so hard that she fell back allowing him to swing his scythe in a graceful arc that stopped just short of slicing her.

"That was _close_!" John breathed; he had jumped up as soon as Kito brought his weapon down, for a second it looked like he was actually going to kill her. "For someone so thin he is sure strong."

"I don't think I can take this." Jim flopped down clutching his chest, sweat running down his face, "That was scary."

Kito shook her hand once he helped her up, his face remaining serious. Tabby returned to them looking slightly shaken but overall happy. This was the general pattern of the evening but as promised their group used their battles as an opportunity to rest and show off some of their skills.

No one said anything but the fight most of the rookies were waiting for finally came. John verses Marko. When Tseng called their names there was a different edge to his words, it boarded on sympathy. The rookies instantly hushed. Marko had yet to lose a fight and John had yet to win one. This would be a painful show. The crowd continued their relentless hollering and shouts oblivious to the tension below them.

John's jaw was set as he quickly walked to catch up with Marko who was ahead of him. He acted more confident then he was feeling but he still held his head high. Rude who was nursing some wounds he'd received from his previous matches forced sat up straighter, heart was beating faster then it had all evening. Looking at Marko only increased his anxiety; there was an almost feral look in his hard eyes. Marko had something planned and John appeared like a sitting duck just wait for the blow. Tseng signalled for them to go.

Both leapt at each other. Marko slightly surprised by his brother's bold move, wavered slightly allowing John to block the sword with his daggers. They pushed apart in mid air and lunged at each other again. The sound of metal clashing rung clearly in Rude's ears, the noise of the crowd sounding like a distance ocean in the background.

The friction of the blades continuous strapping against each other heated the metal and Rude swore he could smell it. Marko though slightly fazed by John's improvement remained dominate and brutally slashed at his younger sibling, even toying with him when he realised he wasn't going to end it embarrassingly quick.

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"What makes you think you can beat me." Marko forced the sentence out between breaths.

By now both were panting loudly. John who was staggering to his feet, refusing to accept the inevitable yelled back, "I'm gonna knock you off that high horse of yours!"

Then he ran at Marko, throwing his dagger with practised accuracy, managing to catch his brother's cheek before Marko could block it with his sword.

"You're going to pay for that!"

"JOHN!"

----------------------------------------------------------

The sword stopped inches from John's heart. Tseng gave Marko an icy glare before releasing his hold on the hilt. Rude released a sigh as Tabby and Jim collapsed on the bench, they didn't remember standing up, too caught up in the fight.

Marko stalked off the stage, leaving Tseng to help John. The second-in-command shot the bigheaded rookie a dark look. Marko was setting off on the wrong foot. He had skill but also a bad attitude, he'd have to be watched.

John stumbled back to his place. Thankfully, for him his Friends came to get him, they praised him despite losing. Others also praised him and Rude wondered if, as future Turks that would be acceptable. The medics, who were standing by, quickly took John from them to check his wounds. They followed him to the medical room, which was just in a room off from the tunnel they'd come through, concealed from the audience

"How could Marko do such a thing, he almost killed you!" Jim allowed his anger to flow into his words; hell hath no fury like Jim if someone endangers his friends. It was too bad his skills were not enough to back up the numerous plans he had to beat Marko within a inch of his life, but it was the thought that counted, right?

Tabby was crying, completely overcome. Rude said nothing; he had anticipated such a result. They were all hurting from bruises they'd received, many of the matches had been vicious as everyone tried to prove their worth. Rude had more than he would like to admit but that was his own fault; if he wasn't so stubborn then he could have come away with less injury but he refused lose. Not giving up until he had his opponent pinned. He'd beaten everyone he'd come against now he only had three fights to go. These would be the most difficult. John and Jim had finished their battles for now.

"Rude I want you to beat that _monster_ to a pulp you understand?" Jim turned on him furiously, as they waited for the crowd of nurses around John to disperse, looked like Marko had caught him more often than they had seen. Rude noted this, he'd have to be more careful.

"Next fight Tabby and Fraeya." Tseng voice called on a small radio in the corner of the room.

Tabby jumped at the sound of her name but quickly wiped away her tears, though her eyes were still red. She ran over and gave John's hand a quick squeeze, disrupting a nurse who was in the middle of bandaging up his arm, before running to the door and back into the arena. His wounds were already healing thanks to the potions he'd been given but it was best not to rely too heavily on Mako based remedies. Rude wanted to watch her fight but didn't want to leave John.

"Rude why don't you go watch her?" John suggested just as the green light of the restore material surrounded him again. After that the medics seemed satisfied with their work and moved on.

"John," there was a strange light in Jim's eyes as he looked at his friend lying quietly on the bed, "...You alright?"

John shrugged, "It's over now, isn't it? Want to know something weird, I'm actually not that bothered that I lost. I don't know how to explain this but I kinda feel that I won something back there. I know that sounds crazy, but that's not half as bad as what I was thinking during the match"

"What were you thinking?"

" I kept thinking about what the Kid said about my brother. I'd said it myself loads of times, that he was an ass, but that more like my way of compensating because I was jealous that he was better than me. What Red said this morning got me thinking; maybe I have something he doesn't have, since we're different and... I'm talking rubbish aren't I? Don't look at me like that!"

"You hit your head didn't you?"

"You're a terrible spouse you know that?" John shoved Jim playfully and they both laughed. Rude decided it would be okay to go.

Steeping back into the arena, he immediately saw Tabby clashing with the woman Fraeya. She was a difficult opponent, specialising with chain weapons, her favourite was the meter hammer. The weapon flowed in her grip becoming an effective shield or aggressive weapon. She had adapted it so her range with the weapon was far beyond that of the norm. Fraeya ended it soon after, disarming Tabby and using a chain whip to entangle her opponent.

"Rude and Kito." The crowded cheered madly, as two of the established best fighters made their way up. Passing Tabby as she came down he gave her an appraising smile.

"Good luck Rude." She whispered.

Standing opposite Kito he towered over the smaller slender man. He eased himself into the familiar boxing position, being more rested he felt slightly fresh.

"Begin."

As Rude expected Kito came towards him then spun off to the side, he'd seen the man try this tactic before to end the match quickly. However, Rude hadn't expected the scythe to be so large, he was sure it would make the grim reaper jealous. What was scary was how easily the man swung it around, sometimes with just one hand. Rude tried to work his way in, side stepping kicks and parrying punches. After a couple of minutes they were both sweating buckets, worn out already from previous fights. Their suits stuck to their skin uncomfortably and still the crowed yelled and screamed above them. Seconds turned to minutes and still neither had gained an advantage. They carried on, seconds turning into minutes and still neither had gained an advantage. Rude couldn't get in close enough and Kito wasn't able to get passed the larger rookie's defence.

Rude jumped back, out of the way, as the dark haired man finally resorted to using his weapon, but lost his balance and fell. Bringing the scythe up, Kito leapt high ready to finish the match. Rolling out the way Rude narrowly avoided being stabbed; he kept rolling as Kito carried on with the attack. Managing to get to his feet, he dived away from a swiped that nearly cleaved him in two. Kito breathe steamed up as it hit the metal of the curved blade, his work was becoming sloppier, as he grew more tired from his efforts. He began to retreat.

This was Rude's chance. Racing towards his foe he feinted to the right then swung out with a roundhouse kick. It collided with the long handle of the scythe but had enough force behind it to knock Kito off his feet. Following through he twisted the weapon from the smaller man's grasp, his large hand easily handling the thing and his other hand found Kito's throat. The dark haired man wasn't through yet, bring his legs up he managed to hook on around Rude's neck, trying to knock Rude off of him. The larger rookie rose to his feet, bringing Kito with him. The slender man's leg fell from Rude's neck, so he wasn't in danger of his spine being broken. All he could do was claw at the hand round his throat.

"Winner." Tseng announced, indicating Rude to the crowd.

It was Kito's first defeated, having beaten Marko in the interval while Rude had been in the medical centre with the others. Setting his opponent down he made sure he was gentle. Kito had a thin, delicate neck. If he wasn't careful he could break it with no effort. They shook hands and returned to their seats.

"Eden and Shady"

Rude wondered if he should go and see how John was doing but there was no need, he was already sitting on the bench waving over to him. Rude rolled his eyes. For the second time that evening he wondered where Red was. Was he still in Hojo's clutches or was he in the stands watching them all now? He scanned the crowds but could spot the vibrant shade of red amounts the blurred blobs; then again he couldn't distinguish _anything_.

"You're on fire Rude!"

"Remember your promise to beat Marko for us," Jim's comment earned him a dark glare from the front row. Marko already sore from nearly losing at the hands of Kito looked ready to throttle Jim there and then. The rookie's gaze shifted to Rude, there was a calculating look in his eyes that made Rude more wary. He hadn't done much in the past to warrant the man's attention; merely being associated with his brother was enough to put him on the wrong side of Marko, now the older sibling was looking at him with intense malice. Rude showed no signs of being concerned, which most probably annoyed Marko more, not that Rude was purposefully being impassive.

"I'll do my best."

The current fighters were evenly matched, Eden gracefully flicking his katana to block the shuriken aimed at him. Shady in turn stopped the blows with his smaller weapons and swiftly dodged the strikes. It was a fast paced and exciting fight. Rude could see they were enjoying the challenge each set the other and they found a rhythm they could both flow to neither winning nor losing. It reminded Rude of the Hana and Maya fight earlier; those two had both been long-range fighters. In the end they'd run out of ammunition or arrows in Hana's case and had to resort to hand to hand combat which neither were spectacularly good at, it had ended with the two friends collapsing from exhaustion but laughing when it was announced as a draw. This fight also ended with a draw, the men working their way to the ground. Once they were too tired to raise their weapons, Tseng stopped the fight.

"Kureno and Marko."

_This_ would prove to be an interesting match. Kureno, the man that had congratulated him on his victory against Tick before, was amongst the most skilled of their group. He was however, not the most passionate fighter. His face always appeared serene and thoughtful. Already Rude had the impression that though he was confident in his abilities he was reluctant to use excessive force or even get into grudging fights. Instead, he was tactical, turning his opponent's aggression against them and controlling their movements by following their momentum was his forte. Like Kito, he was skilled with a weapon or in this case, two, but rarely used them.

To Rude's silent horror it appeared Marko had been holding back to this point, he fought with surprising aggression. Kureno was doing very well to keep up with his opponent, spinning and bending out of the way, as the expertly wielded sword chased him. Rude wished Kureno could get some distance and plan a counter move but Marko was on him, moving with him and stopping any chance of that. The pair danced round the circle, neither making much progress but it was only a matter of time before Marko would pin Kureno, there was a limit as to far one could run.

It appeared Kureno's limit was high, he showed no signs of being concerned that he may end up with the blade sticking through him by the end of the evening. Rude had built up a considerable amount of respect for the man. Watching him fight Rude wasn't sure if he was in control of the situation or not. All he knew was that under that dreamy and calm expression was someone with great intelligence and confidence, a real battle veteran. Maybe he didn't have to worry about the outcome of this match so much.

Marko eventually came down on Kureno his blade beginning a slashing motion. The crowd screamed expecting it to all end, maybe even expecting more blood. The soft thud of a flat blade against wood was distinguishable through the yells. Finally Kureno had resorted to bringing out his weapons. Quickly sliding the chicken sickles from his sleeves and swiftly cross-blocked the attack. In front of Rude, others released sighs of relief, it occurred to Rude that Kureno was quite popular.

The fighting carried on. Kureno being more aggressive than he had been all evening, but that didn't really suit his movements. No it was better to describe it as pushing back for once. Marko was not stupid. He had seen how Kureno preferred to use his opponents strength against them thus had fought with such aggression as to prevent Kureno effectively coming up with some kind of counter action. The pace fast making it difficult for his opponent to keep up and have time to think but he stayed in control, stopping before he was carried away with his own momentum. The style strained on his reserves but Kureno was no ordinary fighter, he could keep up and flow was fast Marko could move. He adapted to the style of fighting even if it was against how he preferred, a difficult skill for many other combatants.

It had to end eventually and what an end it turned out to be! Marko seemed to have regained command of the match until the very last second. Kureno somehow managed to trap Marko's blade in his sickles and twist it from him before hooking Marko's neck in their grasp. This happened so fast that Rude wasn't sure he had seen correctly. Marko lost that's what mattered.

Of course, the crowd cheered, appreciating the intense and exciting struggle. Kureno was greeted warmly; even Marko was to some extent. While the next match started Rude wondered if he should congratulate Kureno, but he seemed to be getting so much appraising attention that he thought it best he didn't intrude. Despite losing Marko didn't appear too sore about it, maybe he was too tired or exhilarated. He hadn't returned to his seat, finding the people all around him to suffocating and like the space and freedom standing up gave him, it also gave him a clearer view of what was going on.

Manube, the rookie better known as the one Scarlett screamed at the other day, was putting up a brave fight. All of them were above average fighters, even Jim but against each other, their achievements felt like nothing. It could be the reason for this tournament to force them to push each other. On the streets it was unlikely they'd face quite so hard a challenge but to become lax with their training would cause their levels to drop. The company couldn't afford this so by making them feel inferior about their skills would encourage them to improve and stay at an optimum level. Manube was one of those that were of a higher level but his opponent, Jordo was in that level as well. The smaller blonde man struggled to dodge the 'bullets' from the handgun. Firearms proved to be at a disadvantage, the ammo ran out too easily. This didn't haze the self confident rookie who was after all the real brain of Marko's inner circle. Somehow, Manube managed to survive, the outcome a draw when both lost their weapons and proved too evenly matched with normal hand-to-hand.

"Kureno and Rude."

It felt too soon. On the other hand, after this the only two left to fight were Marko and himself.

Standing on the platform yet again, he regarded his opponent. Kureno had dark reddish brown hair that was neatly cut, his hazel eyes were half closed as if he was thinking. His suit was immaculate, something that unnerved Rude considering how ruffled everyone else's was. Kureno had yet to push himself to his full potential or Rude could be overestimating him.

"Begin." Tseng sounded a tad bored, the repetition of his task getting to him and the 'enthralling' matches failed to stir any interest in him.

Kureno, as was his style, didn't make the first move instead he waited. Rude refusing to repeat the folly of others also waited. They stirred each other down, Kureno fixing him with a bemused look but all he saw was Rude's expressionless face and dark shades. He smiled realising what game Rude was playing. Whoever made the first move would show a sign of weakness unable to deal with the mounting pressure to move and do as the crowds urge them to do. Rude had shut out the masses now, his only focus was the man before him. Kureno appeared ignorant to all but Rude. Slowly Kureno shifted his feet, Rude remained stoic. He had Kureno's interest and curiosity may very well kill the cat today.

Kureno cautiously approached Rude, wary of any sudden movements. Rude had relied on his strength for most of the evening, pretending to be just the tower of muscle people thought he was. His opponent now fully awake it seemed was manoeuvring himself around Rude, looking for a blind spot, which he would not find. Rude was too aware of him and prepared for anything. When Kureno moved behind him and out of his field of vision Rude counted to three before spinning round just in time to catch Kureno's punch. The smaller man quickly jumped back, not putting a lot of force into the attack in the first place merely testing Rude's reflexes. To him Rude was a challenge since he was fighting the way Kureno did, only Rude didn't respond until the last minute allowing him to trap the aggressor and turning them into the victim. Knowing this Kureno began a series of feints sometimes clipping Rude or sometimes striking him if he was lucky. Rude took the attacks, blocking where he could but he remained in the same spot unwilling to give up his advantage. By copying Kureno's method he forced the other to adapt but Kureno the expert of his own technique wasn't going to fall for his own trap.

They moved slowly and carefully. To win this they would have to trick the other that involved a plan that depended on the opponent's own actions and how far they could push their opponent to do what they wanted. It looked like this could be another draw. Realising the futility of trying to win like this Rude suddenly changed his tactics. Rushing forward he caught Kureno by surprise and with one well aimed punch knocked him off the platform. It had been so fast, so sudden; it took a moment for everyone to react. By that time Rude was already helping Kureno up who was nursing a swollen cheek but smiling.

"That was…" he seemed to be thinking of a suitable word but gave up, clapping Rude on the back instead and laughed. Rude thought he was a little strange.

"You know I had a feeling you were the best." Kureno continued off hand, Rude held onto his upper arm, aware the man had twisted his ankle when he landed. "But I wasn't expecting that."

Returning to his quiet and shier self, he said, "Umm well thanks….Good luck in the next round," and detached himself from Rude. He insisted on limping his own way to the medical room, not that his friends weren't there to help him the rest of the way.

Tseng didn't even bother announcing for them to come up. Rude changed his stance, making the effort to look more intimidating then he usual, cracking his knuckles to loosen their stiffness. Marko looked hesitant at the display but quickly shook it off.

Rude wondered if Marko was going to try getting in close or fight from a distance, he was effective either way. He had made the mistake of trying to compensate for Kureno's style and paid; now he was going to fight his way and leave Rude, unarmed, at his mercy. Rude had always prided himself for his independency from weapons. Tonight made him wish he could at least have something to fall back on like Kito or Kureno. Instead, all he could do was avoid being whacked by Marko's sword. Thankfully, the swordsman was using the flat of the blade even if it appeared he was not. John had been a special case and after that incident, Marko had been on his best behaviour. Rude didn't really want anymore painful experiences this evening, having enough sores and bruises to last him a couple of months, he no desire to find out how it felt to be bludgeoned.

On Tseng's signal Marko lunged forward, Rude struck out while stepping out of the way of the oncoming attack. Naturally, Marko quickly brought the blade round to block the punch. Disliking his position Rude ducked, as Marko moved in for another attack, unable to take advantage of the opening Marko had created the best he could do was distance himself. From that point on Rude found himself in a difficult position, the roles of "Uki" and "Tori" continuously reversed as Rude tried to get close but was beaten back by Marko's cutting defence. Similarly, Marko would try attacking only to be countered resulting in him retreating. They studied each other's movements as they circled each other. Marko tried sidestepping the other way but Rude mirrored his movements maintaining their distance. Then at some invisible signal they charged.

Unfortunately for Rude he had not thought the move through, merely reacting to Marko. This allowed his opponent to smack him with the sword and send him falling back, much to Marko's pleasure. Following through he adjusted his grip for his final move. Rude, knowing this was his last opportunity to regain the match shot out with his left hand grabbing Marko's shirt. Before Marko could react, he was brought down, his head colliding with Rude's skull. There was a sickening cracking sound. Then Marko went limped.

Tseng forcing himself to keep a straight face calmly made his way over, carefully feeling Marko's bright, red forehead. Sighing, the Turk brought out a restore material, after a moment both rookies were enveloped in the green light and Rude's head felt instantly better.

"That wasn't the wisest way to use your head."

Rude caught the joking tone in his commander's voice and the slight smile. Marko was already trying get up, head still spinning from the impact. Taking pity on him Rude, who was equally sore, got up and helped his fellow rookie to his feet. Too dizzy to start moving they both stood still for a moment, Marko eventually gave him an angry scowl but didn't move away instead he experimentally poked his head wincing at the slightest touch. Rude could excuse his furious glances seeing as Marko was going to have one terrible headache in the morning.

Walking back Marko, much to his frustration, needed to rely on Rude as some form of orientation, as if losing hadn't been bad enough. Rude did well to hide his amusement as he led the older sibling to the medical centre. John and the others followed, stating there was going to be an interval before the second round. Doug and Jordo at some point had taken Marko from him but he was still stirred towards the medics by Tabby, always the mother hen.

Never one to enjoy being fussed over he scowled throughout his treatment as they poked and prodded his injuries. However, he was grateful for the potions and remedies that healed most of his wounds; he even nodded his thanks as he exited. John had done well not to tease his brother but their group had not been too quiet when congratulating him or in Jim's case making fun of his rather stupid move. If Marko was made of harder stuff Rude may have found himself fighting while dizzy that is if he hadn't knocked himself out. It only occurred to him later that he could have grabbed Marko's wrist instead and going over the moves he would have performed realised he could have saved the company some medical supplies, on the other hand he would still be hindered by his other bruises, which he had been too stubborn to attend to.

"You know Rude I think if anyone has a shot at beating those Turks it's you." John said as they seated themselves. Not wanting to commit himself Rude just shrugged.

"Shame the kid couldn't be here, it would have been interesting to see what he would have done." Jim murmured, bringing up something that had been at the back of their minds all evening. None of them had said anything but they had half expected the redhead to appear at some point. Personally, Rude was more than a little disappointed, recalling how Red had taken on the guards on their first mission, he to thought it would have been interesting to see the tricks we would have pulled.

"Still it was for the best, right?" smiling Tabby moved their concerns back to the upcoming issues such as the upcoming Turk battles.

"Oh Tabs, must you be the messenger of doom." John joked, "Question is are we going to have to really fight or is it just a demonstration?"

"Actually fight." The rookies jumped at the sound of Tseng's voice.

"Sir!" They saluted; Rude got the impression the second-in-command tired of this ritual. He nodded for them to relax .

"Err…"

"Congratulations on your work this far," Tseng started "Take this time to rest." He gave them a final nod then departed leaving them a little shaken.

Across the stage another bench was being placed, probably for the Turks. Rude felt anxiety and anticipation building up inside him again, the conflicting feelings pained him. What was expected of them now? He felt, as others most probably did, that he'd given it his all so why couldn't they be satisfied? Now the adrenaline was seeping away he struggled to stay awake and the urge to collapse on the bench was tempting. Taking on nineteen people whatever the difficulty was harder than he imagined. He knew it was going to be a challenge he just failed to visualize the feeling of complete exhaustion. The potions and Mako energy in his system were also using up some of his dwindling strength. Arisa had been right; the rookies had it hard this year.

The interval proved quite long, long enough for Rude to regain some of his strength. Drinks of some strange concoction had been passed round, it had tasted disgusting but afterwards he felt invigorated. There'd been some relaxed conversation but as usual he didn't get involved. Entertained by watching the crowds move around in the stands, it must been really boring for them, watching a bunch of amateur Turks fight it out then have to sit through even more of it. Recalling Trent referring to some betting boards he guessed they had other reasons to still be interested.

Finally, Tseng reappeared. There was a spur of activity as people rushed to retake their seats. The Wutai man took his time returning to the stage, prolonging the inevitable.

"Now we will begin the second round of the tournament." Tseng paused, turning to the entrance on the opposite side of the arena. The rest of the arena followed his gaze. Kyo walked calmly into view, the sleeves of his suit and shirt rolled up wearing a confident grin. Tseng waited for him to take his position on the platform before carrying on. Trent emerged from the dark tunnel, he paused to take loosen his neck with a loud crack that could be clearly heard thanks to the silence. Rude observed the large Turk's serious expression and smiled inwardly as Jim began to shake next to him. That display was just to look tough. Next Lyon walked onto the stage; they were forming a circle around the edge. Finally Arisa came running into view; she even waved to the crowd before fixing Kyo with a smug look. He snorted in response.

Rude thought that was it, Tseng turned away from the entrance and looked up at the balcony. A moment passed then a redhead leapt over the edge, much like Tseng had done at the start, landing catlike but without the grace. He stood up and cast his eyes over the seated Rookies, who looked back him, most with their mouths hanging open.

"_What_?" Jim's indignant exclamation was lost in the crowd's applause.

* * *

A/N: Yay its over. I'm sorry it was so long, ntroducing some new faces and trying to give you an idea at what level they are etc. Well I was going to reveal who Red was (as if no one knows) but then I had a better idea so please wait until after the next two chapters. 

please tell me what you think, personally i know this was a aweful chapter and I'm so sorry for having to put your through it but it had to be written, if someone else had done it it may have been more entertaining but me being me I'm still practsing.


	11. Tournament II

READ FIRST: Finally completed this chapter it's much longer but I'm not sure about mistakes or grammatical errors, I corrected them as best I could. I seriously need to read a good book since I just feel my writing ability has gone dramatically down the pan you may see what I mean. The next chapter should be shorter and you won't have to wait nearly as long for it I've finished my exams now but now I have pictures to complete for my mum, movies to watch and the previously mentioned book to read. Still I won't take me a year.

* * *

"_No way"_

"No, no, a _thousand times_ no_!"_

"_Why _is _he_ with the Turks_?"_

"He's a _friggen mummy_, this can't be allowed_!" _

"He's gonna get killed-"

"Is this a punishment?"

"What's going on?"

This and more rushed over Rude's ears as he stared at the last addition to the stage. He was not as shocked, indignant or disgusted as the others, Tseng had said the redhead would be there after all and he trusted the man's word. Admittedly he'd had his doubts when the kid hadn't shown up during the first round. It was both a relief and cause for concern considering his condition. Relief since he was obviously healed enough to pull off stunts like that and concern because it was just impossible for anyone to heal from that much blood loss in less than a day. Then again he was no expert in ShinRa medical techniques though he knew standard field equipment, like potions and powerful healing magic, could fix open wounds in a cinch he figured from the other Turks reactions the young man's problems were more severe than that.

There were things he was starting to make sense of; they were so clear now he felt ashamed that he had ignored such details. Admittedly he couldn't believe someone so childish, with no regard for manners or authority could survive in a system they'd been trained to recognise as strict and ruthless. However if that had been the case, John, Jim and Tabby would surely have never made it through even before they drifted towards him. Then there were the actual Turks, all of which the description 'quirky' could apply and not to mention, they all appeared familiar with the redhead. Thinking back to the conversation with Arisa, she more or less told him he was well settled in the company and wasn't some ruffian that was running around. To add to that, every time they'd seen Red's interactions with senior staff it constantly shocked them with just how familiar he was. So it was blindingly obvious he'd been with the company much longer than any of them and it was therefore plausible that he could be a Turk, if not one in training via different means. Rude had only started doubting him to be a Turk on his behaviour when they first met. He _had _originally thought he was a Turk before thinking better of it. He just didn't know. No one did, in fact many had not got over the immediate shock. John was muttering oaths of disbelief beside him and Tabby appeared to have lost the ability to speak. Jim kept looking at Rude as if he had an explanation.

Still the fact remained he was probably not fit to fight. Rude had felt the blood, heard the screaming, seen Tseng carry his limp body out of the bathroom, but more importantly knew his system and mind had been messed up by the blonde witch only last night. How do you recover from that in such a short time?

Veld appeared on the Balcony, gracing the audience with a solemn nod. His stern presence made the room even more silent, everything waited on his order. "Thank you for your patience, please enjoy this demonstration of some of ShinRa's finest officers in our Department of Administrative Research. As you are aware, we are at war with Wutai, only the best can survive the task of ensuring Midgar's security. May this evening show that you are not only in safe hands at this present time but shall be in the future."

There was a round of applause following this short speech, increasing when he stepped back and Lyon walked to the centre of the platform. He turned to Kyo who obediently stepped forward. The other's remained like ceremonial statues around the edge. Tseng lifted an arm, signalling for them to get ready and commanding the crowd to quieten. He cast his dark eyes over to the Rookies and they knew he wanted them to watch the following matches with care. However Rude found himself too preoccupied with the mystery surrounding the Redhead to give much thought to fighting at the present moment.

"Oi, big guy, what's with that face?" Jim suddenly broke off his musings.

"Isn't it the same as always?"

"That's the problem." Jim stated as if wondering how Rude couldn't understand the issue, "aren't you surprised... _at all_ by this? I mean come on if anyone knows how unfit the Kid is you would and he's with the Turks, _the Turks_, Rude. Don't you think something is messed up, its ridiculous-"

"No." The bald rookie replied flatly cutting into the older male's ranting.

The sharp reply, however didn't deter Jim, in fact he didn't seem to even notice Rude had said anything. "Okay I know ShinRa isn't always by the book and let's face it their desperate with the war and everything. Hey they let us guys in, well not you, I mean of course you're in but you're a different league altogether from us, I mean- you know what I mean, the point is somewhere along the line things have gone beyond the barriers of acceptability right?" It was clear from his tone Jim was appealing for some confirmation or explanation but Rude could not give what would set the man at ease, if he shared his own hypothesis he risked Jim dropping dead from the shock.

To him and many others Red was just the kid that had saved them in a unorthodox manner, upset a senior official, then proceeded to wake them all up at ungodly hours, to speak out of turn at a meeting, appear to have attention deficiency disorder and cause some mysterious drama that resulted in him disappearing and reappearing looking more like a mummy than before. From that perspective one could understand the refusal to accept what was blatantly in front of them. Yet could in some way or other the Kid's skills or experience out rank their own?

Rude shook his head.

"_What?"_ Jim exclaimed in a frustrated whisper as things started to quieten down, his change of tone was enough for Rude to turn his head but he still watched the proceedings from the corner of his eye, looking beyond the performance to Red, he was mildly surprised how natural the slender man appeared, he didn't look out of place at all. His laid-back stance portraying his confidence that he had every right to be there, but Rude still couldn't shake off the feeling that it just wasn't right somehow though he was equally convinced of his own conclusions. He tried not to look at the redhead that caused too much turmoil in his mind as contradicting theories bubbled and warred giving him a headache just trying to understand them.

"Maybe he isn't what he appears to be."

Jim was about to protest but stopped himself, instead he actually appeared to contemplate what his big friend just said and it appeared to sink in as a few minutes later when the fight was getting interesting he let out of a soft "Oh," of realisation. For the rest of the fight he stared off into space, an expression not unlike wonderment on his face.

As far as the fight went it was definitely a more impressive display than anything the audience had seen thus far, even if it was partly staged and no real damage was inflicted. The crowds 'OOOO'ed and "Ahhh'ed as if on cue they were so absorbed, Rude wondered if they had bets on these fight as well. Much more he wondered how much of their true strength the Turks would show tonight, it was one think for the new recruits to go at each other as if their lives depended on it but for the companies most mysterious department showing their limits he doubted very much that would be allowed. Clearly they didn't think the capabilities of the new recruits would be enough to push the veterans either, which begged the question what the whole thing was really about aside from an excuse to gamble and hold a party that actually had nothing to do with anything.

He suddenly wanted, more than anything at that moment to ask Arisa what this was all about. She was certainly a woman with a lot of information and seemed to trust him enough to let bits slip, whether on purpose or accidentally. Up until now she'd been a short lived lifeline to his slow understanding of ShinRa. Working for a company and knowing about it were completely separate things and if he learnt anything from the academy it was knowledge could be key to survival. Unfortunately Arisa was out of reach and the next opportunity they would have to talk he had a feeling he'd be too distracted to have a conversation. So he watched. Picking up anything from the Senior's fight, looking out for patterns in their movements, preference in style and possible weaknesses they were trying to exploit.

Thankfully he'd seen Kyo fight before and experienced enough of his personality to correctly assume he would be the aggressor. This left more time to watch Lyon who was forced into the defensive but his advantage in strength- though not as great as Trent's - was enough to stop him being overwhelmed by the younger man's flurry of furious kicks. The older man had experience on his side, he was much more balanced than the orange haired man, combining his quick reflexes and strength he compensated for the lack of speed while conserving energy, only moving when absolutely necessary and lashing out with a powerful punch when Kyo was in close range.

In Kyo's favour he was fast and agile. Rude also noted the pair of black gloves the ginger haired man was wearing and despite his knowledge of ShinRa paraphernalia being comparatively limited, since they were bringing out things all the time, he had a feeling they were no ordinary gloves, as bangles and earrings were not just accessories. Lyon had also armed himself with a pair of arm guards that extended from his hands to his elbows, hooked claws protruded menacingly from the knuckles. It was obvious they both specialised in close combat but the larger Turk had the advantage. Kyo wasn't the greatest example of prowess and from everything they'd seen of the Turk supervisors Lyon was probably the oldest and most experienced, not to mention he had claws. Not that Kyo's martial art skills were to be sniffed at but Rude had yet to see Lyon in action, so it was anyone's guess who really would come out on top.

"I don't recall him doing that in practise yesterday."John commented when Kyo performed a viscous tiger style grabbling move to escape Lyon's hold while twisting his body to avoid being impaled by the claws. It was probably unremarkable but the flawless execution had them gaping, they really couldn't have paid more attention even if they'd glued their eyes to the platform.

As it turned out he would have been right to put his money on Lyon. When the match started they appeared evenly matched but the ginger haired man's subtle, maybe even purposeful, slip ups allowed Lyon to catch and over power him. It was short and it had been sweet. At times the battle could have gone either way but the more efficient fighter won in the end. Whatever the outcome most of the Rookies were already weighing themselves against the performance and finding they came up short.

Trent was the next to take on the blonde Turk. Like Kyo, he was wearing a pair of black gloves but unlike his partner he relied on strength rather than speed making him a whole different ball game for Lyon. However despite already just taking on a fellow Turk Lyon was not short of breathe, as if the previous match had been nothing more than child's play. Rude took a quick look at Kyo, though the man's breathing had been slightly laboured it was already back to a steady pace. These really were nothing but exhibition matches.

Sure they'd been told that but after watching the two Turks go at it like cats and dogs it hadn't appeared that way. Indeed the current fight which was reminiscent of a bear trying to break a giant boulder _seemed_ tiring and strenuous but all Trent was doing was going on the defensive allowing Lyon to show off a different variety of moves and thus his versatility. Occasionally he would take a swipe at him but his main priority was to keep Lyon's claws away from him thus showing his dodging capability and rapid reflexes.

Both were strong men, Trent undoubtedly the strongest but all that compact muscle made his reactions the smallest whereas his opponent was more balanced, he was big and strong but still lean enough to have greater agility and his speed was probably on par to Rude's. However showing off what he was capable of also had the unplanned drawback of showing the Rookies what he could not do. So even though Lyon did eventually catch Trent across the throat with his claws- an automatic win- Rude actually felt more confident about fighting Lyon than either Trent or Kyo.

Arisa was a whole different game.

Unlike Lyon's previous opponents she was armed with Chakrams. The large wheels were adorned with spikes which made them effective for blocking, throwing, gutting and impaling. More so she was slim and flexible and her powerful long legs gave her an edge speed wise as well as a powerful kick. When the fight got started she moved in a similar fashion to Kyo despite working best at mid range. This was partly due to Lyon not giving her enough room and her own reluctance to throw her weapons and end up with the possibility of being unarmed. She knew how Lyon worked yet it appeared to put her at a disadvantage as she weighed her own tactics against his reactions. To her credit she lasted longer than either of the other men and even got a few good kicks in. Unfortunately for her Lyon could take more blows than she'd handed to him and he made sure he moved to minimise their effect.

"Just kill me now." John sighed, looking to the ceiling as if his salvation would strike him down there and then. Unlike Rude he wasn't receiving any useful information watching the Turks battle, other than he was completely out of his depth because he knew that he'd have his butt handed to him almost as soon as he got on that podium again. It was too late to reconsider career choices; Shiva knew his brains would be painting the walls if he did. He hadn't idled his time between now and when they'd been given access cards to the ShinRa building, along with Jim and Tabby they'd tried to look through every file they could get their hands on when they were alone. It was more to see what they'd be up against but all he got was harmless, old case files, which the Turks were very careful to not report their involvement in unless it was unavoidable.

Jim started to get restless again being presented with what the company expected of them in a few years- providing they didn't get killed before then-had his very bones shaking. You didn't realise how sheltered or ignorant you've been until things stare you in the face. This hadn't just dawned on him; he'd got the message during their first mission since they'd screwed up royally. Admittedly it wasn't his fault, it was Marko's. That only made it worse, if the most promising candidate could get it wrong then what chance did he have? But more importantly it wasn't just a case of if he messed up than it was all on him. No, if one messed up everything could fall apart, everyone in the team could suffer the consequences. Unlike these matches were everything was down to your own performance, on the field what you did would affect whatever happened next and whoever else was involved. He knew that he was the most incompetent person in the group, someone had to be and that badge of honour had fallen onto him. John may have confidence issues and he found it easier to channel his own insectaries into an effort to bring his friend's self-confidence up but that didn't change the fact that if he messed up and John or the others ended up in the morgue he would never forgive himself, in fact he may just follow him to the Lifestream for everyone's sake.

Shaking his head violently he dispelled such morbid thoughts, they'd only get in the way and he needed to concentrate especially if his bald friend's theories of the Kid were correct - not that the uniform told lies- than he'd have to prepare himself for a round with him as well, at least if he wanted to walk away with some dignity. Then again there was no honour in defeating an opponent who was looking more like the undead that had been left in the cold for three days. If he wasn't so scared and confused he would have laughed at himself for wanting to join ShinRa for a comfortable and easy life all those years ago. He cast a wary glance at Rude who hadn't even responded to John's plea for a swift death from the Gods. Not even a disapproving eyebrow. Though he'd known the man for only a short time he hadn't seen him enthused about very much, though it was hard to tell when the guy had about five expressions max but even he could see his tall friend was taking a almost obsessive interest in the redhead and sure he'd teased him about it, almost as badly as they teased Tabby and her 'brainiac' hunting, but he had hoped Rude would get over it like he did everything else and though he very much liked the kid himself there was the risk that they'd never see him again or he could cause trouble and may jeopardise his friend's safety. Looking at Red now his whole manner screamed reckless in the sort of loose cannon way yet he'd also seemed quite calculating when he'd saved them all. His brows knit painfully together and he was sure by the end of the evening his brain may just grill its way into a lump of ash, why wasn't life nice and simple anymore, why leviathan why?

Oblivious to the mental torment of his companions Rude was fixated with the coming clash which Tseng was subtly delaying. All his senses were geared towards the two people in the centre of the platform. Red's body posture remained blasé as opposed to Lyon's much more uptight and tense stance, like a coil waiting to spring. They exchanged words, probably banter but Rude was too far away to hear it especially as the crowd had turned up the volume once again, it was meaningless anyway. If the kid was wise he'd go on the defensive, take a few faints then let Lyon win. However Red didn't seem the type to do the sensible thing or if he did he would find the most complicated way of doing it. Still whatever foolish plans the redhead may have at least Tseng would be on hand to protect him, the thought alone gave him comfort.

Another thing bothering him though, _was Red always so__** small**__? _

In the end he was a little disappointed and frustrated Red was willing to wait for his opponent to make the first move but not in the same way as Kureno waited to turn the foe's strength against them. Red had yet to portray any other look other than boredom, lazily teasing his opponent while not having the faintest interest in their reaction. That wasn't really the problem however, it was the times he dodged at the very last millisecond and from Lyon's gradually less controlled attacks he would certainly be playing with fire if he kept it up. Part of him felt the Kid could move faster but the bandages were restricting him, not to mention the obvious blind spot with one eye was covered which his opponent relied on more and more wanting a swift victory and a winning streak. After a series of rapid fights this strategy of attrition was even more tiring, the crowd's energy seeming to sap along with the older Turk's who was wearing down. However the most frustrating thing was when the battle did end he missed how it happened. It was if he blinked at the crucial second and suddenly the two combatants bodies were entangled with Red restraining Lyon in a scrappy one armed strangle while the other limbs locked the older man onto the floor careful of his claws.

The crowd roared at the turn of events and once again the Rookies were in a stunned silence, no one had expected that. Rude, disconcerted that he'd missed the defining moment watched as the redhead walking slowly returned to his original position on the platform, taking note of the more pained movements and limp in the left leg. Around him the others were exchanging notes at what they'd seen as everyone was convinced they'd also failed to catch what had happened so they planned to draw up a picture with their shared accounts. Nevertheless Kureno also voiced concern about the Kid's current condition, wisely directing discussion back to their own strategies rather than get caught up in irrelevant stuff since it was more important to note the unseen move was probably a desperate act to end the match and it was luck that it'd been pulled off successfully.

Rude once again found himself watching the second in command but the Wutai man's face had become an unreadable mask. Lyon left the Platform and sat on the bench placed out for the Turks' earlier and Kyo took centre stage, his first opponent was Trent and it went much the same as the rookies had seen in practise including Trent chucking the slimmer man across the Platform where he toppled inelegantly over the edge ending the match. Kyo's only saving grace was that he landed on his feet at the last second although his face was flushed as he angrily straightened his uniform and messed up hair before marching back onto the podium.

Arisa was his next opponent and even from this distance he could probably guess what she was lip syncing to make Kyo radiate with annoyance, ears almost blowing steam. Yet they were equally matched although Arisa was armed, their movements' fluid like a vicious but rehearsed dance. Kyo redeem himself by the performance but it still ended in a draw. Red stepped forward just as he had done with Lyon making Rude think he'd used a cure materia while they'd been preoccupied with the other matches.

Kyo took the lead, attacking first, forcing the redhead back and chasing him around the stage until Red had no choice but to take a half hearted kick for Kyo's stomach to get some distance between them. A second passed before they lunged at each other again this time Red becoming the aggressor though his moves were mostly feints and the tide quickly turned in Kyo's favour again until Red fell back. For that fraction of a moment the rookies thought it was over for the younger man but he caught himself at the last moment and supporting his weight on his hands, he swung his legs round to knock Kyo's from under him before flipping over to pin the ginger haired man. Only he wasn't fast enough and instead of pinning him it turned into a confusing scrap for a futile minute before they silently agreed to part and try again. This time however Rude noted a vital difference between the two, though Red appeared to be performing poorly his breathing wasn't at all laboured while Kyo was showing more signs of strain and discomfort. They leaned forward looking ready to pounce at each other again. Kyo charged but to the spectators surprise Red remained fixed, his eyes narrowing in concentration or pain it was hard to tell. Rude found himself holding his breath waiting for the collision that would surely knock the redhead out.

Then Red moved. It was a surprisingly graceful motion timed when Kyo was practically on top of him and it looked impossible for him to evade, but he did. Side stepping out of the way he simultaneously spun round bring his left arm down in a precise arc striking the vulnerable area at the base of the skull. Kyo dropped, stunned.

The applause was deafening, the sudden end triggering them into action again. Rude watched as Red helped Kyo up wishing he could hear what they were saying. He felt someone nudge his ribs and looked down.

"...Guess the Kid isn't doing too badly," Jim was saying to Robin and Lithia and as usual his waving arms were what had poked Rude.

Robin, who was once again side saddle on the bench, smiled, "Well considering we all thought he was going to die I think he's doing very well."

"Don't you think it's strange though," the woman mused, "there's not much remarkable about him yet he keeps winning so far."

"You think he's cheating?" Robin exclaimed incredulously catching Kureno's attention and he too leaned in to listen as Trent stepped into the middle.

"No," Lithia defended, "I'm just curious as to how he's doing it."

"If you don't mind me intruding," Kureno said, getting in before Jim could formulate a word first, "I think he's winning because of his timing."

"Timing," the oldest Rookie blurted out confused, "they all have good timing but that Kid keeps doing stuff we can't see, I'm not saying he's cheating but he's hardly the fastest out there so how come their not countering his attacks?"

"You've just said it, we can't see them, maybe they can't either," John joined in leaning across Rude now.

"I don't get it though," Jim whined, "I thought he was going to be the one in trouble and-"

"Best not kill your remaining brain cells thinking about it buddy," John teased clapping Jim on the shoulder as best he could from his awkward position, "I think we have bigger concerns anyway, like what are we going to do when it's our turn."

"Wise words," Lithia approved, "and if it makes you feel better the kid may not last to our rounds, he's certainly not on par with his form back at the warehouse but the others are probably going to chew us over and spit us out anyway."

Jim and John exchanged grimaces; they did not like that reminder at all.

"Always the positive one," Robin jibbed before he swung round and watched the rest of the Trent versus Arisa fight.

Rude meanwhile had been paying attention and Trent seemed to be having more trouble with his female opponent than his friend. She appeared to be aiming for his back; those Chakram's threatening to tear into skin if he was a little careless. The large man was wise to keep on his toes demonstrating he was suppler than Rude had previously realised. She danced round him but he kept his place, sweat beaded on his forehead and glistened in the light. Like the waves crashing against the cliffs she was wearing him down and Rude was sure Trent may just let her have it. On the other side Arisa looked fresher, trying to force a opening in her opponent and the large Rookie could start more of the unrefined moves seen on Midgar's streets but combined with her grace and standard martial arts she was quite a beautiful sight, each point of contact slamming into Trent with enough force to fracture a lesser man's bones. However, Rude couldn't help but notice how she avoided his recently healed shoulder even though it was a glaring weakness. In the end she did get under his guard but to everyone's surprise, including Arisa's he grabbed her Chakram, cutting his hand but getting a good enough hold to pull her in and just like Kyo toss her off the stage before she could even respond. Rude mentally noted Trent was capable of unpredictable bursts of speed but judging the rate of the man's breathing at the end it was costly.

"Oh I thought she was going to win for sure," Tabby said, she sounded disappointed and a pout marred her usually pretty face, "Didn't they say they weren't going to be serious with each other, why are they tiring themselves out?"

"Perhaps it is because they are restraining themselves that it is more difficult for them," Lithia replied, much to the back rows surprise since this would be the first time they'd seen the two women communicate directly. Rude had secretly thought Lithia may have some contempt for Tabby, who was so much plainer and less skilled than herself but came from a much more privileged background, he dared to thing some class resentment may have been there but he must have been wrong.

"I wouldn't know anything about that, even at my full strength I can just about knock someone out." Tabby blushed.

"The staff is not a particularly brutal weapon, perhaps when it holds some Materia you could do more damage. However being able to keep the target alive can be more useful in this business than killing them. You should be fine with more training." The taller woman reassured even going so far as to give Tabby's quivering knee a kind squeeze and the women shared one of those confiding and supportive smiles only possible to their sex.

Rude missed this touching exchange, attention entirely captured as soon as the Redhead took his place against Trent. He had to be healing himself between fights, the limp was gone and all other signs of fatigue and pain had disappeared, but so had a lot of the colour from his face, if he looked pale before his white complexion was ghastly now. He was so white it made his already intense eyes stand out more, to the point they seem to sparkle unnaturally but that may have been a trick of the glaring lights. Despite what had happened before Rude felt this was it for the young man.

Backwards and forwards they danced, Red leapt, spun, swirled in degrees that should be anatomically impossible for a normal human, let alone one in his condition, yet he showed no hint of pain or weakness. Rude would go so far as to believe all the potions and cures the redhead had been through may have actually mended him completely if it was for the brief glimpse of scarlet on his shirt, revealed during a flip that caused his jacket to stay up long enough for Rude to catch the fresh and even spread stain. Trent, force to move in order to catch his opponent was gradually getting more annoyed, if he stayed still so did Red but no matter how much they moved in the small space he couldn't lay a hand on his nimble foe. It could not continue like this and predictably Red gave out first, stumbling at the end of a cartwheel that unwisely stretched his bleeding side, resulted in him crashing into to the platform and coughing up more red fluid that sprinkled out like rain. Of course none of the spectators could see from where they sat but a melodramatic, collective gasp resonated within the enclosed space all the same.

The large Turk was quick to take advantage of this, twisting round just in time to stamp on the ankle Red couldn't move out of the way fast enough. His weight and with the awkward angle as Red had tried to roll away combined to make a snapping sounds as the bones were crushed. However, stunned by what he'd just done, Trent didn't react when Red swung his leg round, catching his knee and sat up so fast he head butted the large man's exposed groin, unorthodox but effect, the Turk doubled over instantly and slipped off the redhead's ruined ankle. Freed, Red spun on his back simultaneously bringing his uninjured leg round to slam into Trent's exposed neck, literally kick starting the momentum needed for a graceless stomach throw, followed through with Red rolling on top of the large man, at the expense of his wounded ankle to complete an array of complex locks that were remarkably pulled off with one less leg than normally required and allowed someone of his comparatively minute size to neutralise Trent's muscular bulk. Red was lucky his rapid kick had paralysed Trent for most of this, though it was surprising that he was strong enough to do it in the first place.

Unlike before there was no cheering, although Red won many presumed his injury would write him off for the rest of the evening. Indeed Tseng was already looking to the balcony; Rude followed his gaze and could just about see Veld consulting with the President. A solemn nod from the senior Turk , then he returned to the edge of the balcony to shake his head at his second in command a definite sour expression on his face. Around him others had noticed as well, voicing their curiosity about its meaning: No, he could not continue or no, he couldn't go to the infirmary. Rude knew it was the latter when the Wutai man tensed and his lips thinned, had it been the former the large rookie was certain he would have relaxed. The battles were paused as Tseng personally escorted Red to the medical room while Trent took his seat with the others, noticeably more shaken than before while Arisa remained agitated on stage.

Naturally the volume picked up again, first in the crowds and then amongst the rookies but it was Jordo's voice which caught his attention. "Ouch, that's going to be nasty."

"Do you think it'll heal?" Doug asked Marko whom he always relied on to know the answer.

Marko gave a careless shrug his air, unlike the others, was unaffected if more pompous than before, "I doubt it, it'd be better if it didn't he'll just wind up killing himself otherwise. Did you see how awful his technique was, I can't believe something like that is allowed to make a joke of our profession."

"Still pretty impressive that he managed to throw that guy, and with an injured ankle that's got to be worth some credit."

"Jordo," Marko replied disparagingly, "it's classified as idiocy, someone like that is a liability."

"Yeah, yeah. Think you can do better?"

Whatever Marko said was lost by louder remarks as Jim and John got into an argument, John was convinced Red was out of the picture permanently while Jim insisted they'd find some way of bringing him back, Rude was regretting sitting between them. The Bald rookie did find it interesting that one of Marko's loyal lackeys was being so cynical, if not challenging, he couldn't help but recall the wink Jordo had given them early that day, though it seemed weeks ago, and want to review its meaning. However it was pointless as concentration was rendered futile by the two men who were now leaning on his knees as they pushed their faces closer and closer together, the arguments being reduced to name calling and evil glares. Rude, used to this behaviour though not necessarily across his lap, turned to Tabby who was nervously biting her finger and staring at the medical room doors, from which Tseng had yet to re-emerge.

He reached across and patted her shoulder, a better form of comfort than words, since he had none to sooth her with. Automatically she smiled; it wasn't the same as the one shared with Lithia, the feeling being less sincere. With nothing more to offer he let his hand slip away but immediately occupied it with forcing his other friend's heads apart since there was only so much personal space he was willing to sacrifice. Of course his actions turned their attention to him instead of each other.

"Oi, what did you do that for."

"Man, you hands are like sledge hammers I thought my head was going to get detached."

"Don't suppose gentle is in your vocabulary?"

The offhand remarks bounced off, Jim and John nursed their foreheads but Rude could tell they were just trying to do something than think about the matches to come. Tabby admonished them, "You asked for that" yet even that lacked substance her thoughts still in the medical room. The whole stadium seemed to be filled with a sense of confusion; the echoing chatter voiced back his own uncertainty, he vaguely wondered if this accident would reflect badly on the company or the discontent was due to unhappy gamblers, maybe they didn't think anything and it was all in his head.

Finally the infirmary door opened, Tabby was the first to notice but the noise above remained the same indicating just how important these change in events were. Tseng walked out, alone. A cheer rose up when he reinstated himself on stage as if his absence had never happened and it was just like any other round.

"Apologises for the delay, the final match of the second round has been cancelled." There was an audible groan from the stands, some sections even slumping the effect reminded Rude of waving black cloth or the pulsating, slick skin of a dying eel he'd seen washed up on the sure of Costa del sol . "We shall now begin the third and final round of the evening."

The place thunderous applause again cancelling out the previous dissatisfaction, perhaps most of the spectators were just as eager for the long night to end as the combatants. Tseng made his way down to them and the rookies quietened and stiffened on reflex. "There is no order so anyone can go first, who volunteers?"

Rude could have sworn the last words were sprinkled with amusement even though the second in Commands serious expression didn't waver but he didn't think anyone else noticed it. Then again what he said rather than how he had said it had grabbed their attention and no one looked willing to go up for the slaughter. Having already decided he was going last Rude calmly observed the others squirm warring internally with fear and the need to prove themselves, until a soft voice to his right called out.

"I-I'll go."

"_Tabby!"_

The Wutai man ignored John's horrified exclamation, offering Tabby a warm expression and small nod before beckoning her up and returning to the platform himself. As soon as the Turk's back was turned John lashed out and grabbed Tabby's elbow when she went to follow.

"Are you crazy? Let one of the others go first."

"I'm going to have to sometime and it's better to get it over with," Tabby said sternly grabbing John's had and forcing it off, "you should be resting."

"She's right man," Jim agreed, while Rude placed a restraining hand on John's shoulder, "Besides she'll get points for bravery."

Their friend's expression soured but he made no more complaints so Tabby managed to get on stage unhindered. Lyon was already there waiting and the appraising look he gave her wasn't missed by any of them, Rude noted John's darkening expression and glanced at Jim who only shrugged and turned to stare at the stage looking worried. He wasn't the only one, many who didn't even know their companion were biting their lips and frowning not liking the idea that one of the weakest among them was taking the first hit. Again Rude checked how Marko considered this development, hoping he'd be feeling similar shame but he was disappointed.

He barely felt John shove his hand off him but he did hear his friend's disgusted "chi" that voiced his own feelings. "I know what he's thinking."

"What?" Jim whispered as people quietened when the battle was about to start. John nodded in the direction of his Brother but the oldest Rookie only shrugged again catching on. "Ignore him; we all know he'd prefer all the weak to wear them down first."

"Well I'm going next."

"Why?" Jim asked surprised but John waved him off and made a show of giving the fight his undivided attention, frown firmly in place. The older man exchanged a perplexed look with Rude then did the same.

Tabby was doing well or to be more accurate Lyon wasn't really attacking her but creating a rhyme that kept things interesting without overwhelming his more cautious opponent. With every strike he'd parry, every thrust he'd hop back and every hit he'd block and force her back in a manner so contrastingly gentle to how he'd acted with his fellow Turks it was almost laughable and Rude couldn't tell if he was being kind or patronising. Lyon paid for his tenderness when, in a complete turnaround in tactics, Tabby spun and dashed round Lyon swiping his knee as she passed and going for the back of his neck. Hindered as his leg buckled the Turk only just managed to twist round and dodge but Tabby wasn't finished yet. In a fit of aggression they'd never seen before she tore at him relentlessly, spinning and twirling her staff from hand to hand so each technique would have maximum impact and as Lyon was overcome by the unpredictable flurry she created a beautiful Kata, making their audience's eyes bug in shock and admiration.

It wasn't to last, Rude could see she was tiring even before she started really attacking, he dare say the change in plan was because she knew she wasn't going to last much longer. Her final hit smacked Lyon's shielded arms, the sound hard and ringing as it bounced up to the ceiling, but she put too much force into it and lost her balance helping Lyon, who had already grabbed her staff and pulled it roughly down to expose her neck which he immediately grasped in his claws, ending the match. On either side of him Jim and John had leapt from their seats, (as had Manube who was the shortest but had found himself sitting behind Doug whose large frame was blocking his view.) Sighing Rude grabbed his friends and pulled them back to their seats, silencing any angry remarks they'd been about to cry at the stage.

When Tabby passed the rookie ranks she was generally given praise and sentiments of goodwill or at least admiring applause. When she sat down, face radiant from embarrassment and exertion Lithia was already there to lightly punch her shoulder and give her a proud smile before John and Jim pounced on her with words of annoyance and over the top wonder which was more confusing than praising. Rude gave her a proud smile as well and helpful detached John who at some point crushed her to his chest, which wasn't helping her more urgent need to get her breathe back.

The celebration was short lived as Tseng beckoned the next one up, John shot up so fast he nearly knock Tabby over having just released her. Jim sniggered and Rude felt the nervous almost giddy energy that circulated amongst the rookies, Tabby's show encouraging them and dispelling doubts a mood of eagerness taking the place of worry.

John had a tougher time, Lyon wasn't being as gentle and maintaining distance between them was the most the rookie could do. At one point he managed to block two swipes at him with his daggers and by sheer determination push Lyon back but he spent the next ten seconds running and dodging, looking incredibly feeble compared to the Turk, like a ball of yawn being tossed about by a Cat. Eventually the display ended with Lyon finally catching John and smashing the rookie's stomach into his knee, forcing out blood as cracked ribs pierced the lungs. Everyone in the stadium blanched at the unnecessary force and Rude wondered what words had been exchanged that the Turk would think it fitting to teach his friend a lesson. Tseng didn't look too impressed and had a Curaga materia and potion at the ready, mending the Rookie on stage in seconds but frowning the whole time.

Still the defeat didn't put the others off and as Jim, Tabby and Rude took a better look at John's injuries Lyon went through five of their comrades in increasingly rapid succession before they concluded Tseng had healed it up nicely and so long as he rested for half an hour he'd be fine. The Turk mowed down the remaining lot, taking out Jim almost as soon as Tseng said "go", the only ones causing him bother being Kureno, Marko, Kito and surprisingly Maya who activated her limitless bow and arrows that were mako infused especially for the Turks, they proved more effective and destructive than fake bullets.

When it was Rude's turn he already knew how he was going to eliminate Lyon. The man was strong, fast and controlled but also experienced enough to adapt his strategy for everyone he'd had to fight, catching some by surprise because of it. He'd taken out the other Turks except Red and gone on to blast through the rookies like a horses tail swatting flies, yet it all meant nothing. Confidence flowed through him, assurance and brash determination drove his stride to the stage, his visage dark like the faces of the stone guards outside tombs and temples crafted from the blackest marble. The shades made it impossible to see a crack in his composure. When he took his place opposite the Turk Tseng nodded appraisingly and Lyon took a double take.

_**(THE REST STARTS HERE)**_

...............................................................

Shino had spun in his chair three times for each ring of the PHS held loosely to his ear before it had been picked up. His shift had finished an hour ago and he hated surveillance duty, so normally he'd be out of the surveillance room as fast as he could but tonight he'd made an exception to routine. He had stopped spinning and absentmindedly glanced at the monitors that covered the walls, an eye automatically training to the large screen that was showing the abhorred Tournament and had stayed there through most of the conversation, now he started spinning again.

_With a million and one screens at my disposal you'd think there'd be something better on_, he thought darkly, surveying the last bunch of recruits who were just glad they had not gone through the terrible ordeal the rookies on screen were. He almost envied their ignorance as he replayed the later parts of the conversation through again.

"_**Wutai troops are gathering in number and strength daily I don't think the current SOLIDER troops will be enough so we'll need those rookies out recruiting. We're weaker than the President realises especially against the ninjas and guerrilla tactics that have already cut into our forces. We've lost Adole, Bilal and Chanu-"**_

"_No! What? All three, when?"_

"_**Bilal five days ago, Adole and Chanu were ambushed yesterday. I have the reports on the cases, you can read them if you want to. Raine's taken it pretty hard but I'm not allowing her out of the camp, tomorrow I'm starting the retreat. I can't see us making any more headway without losing too many men and risk being cut off."**_

"_I'll tell Tseng, Odin this is a mess. I wish I could say these rookies will be up for the task but right now they're just fodder. You could really do with the Kid but he should be hospitalised if this company was sane."_

"_**We could do with Sephiroth, Angeal or Genesis but after the incident I know Sephiroth is out of the question and I understand Genesis and Angeal are otherwise occupied."**_

"_Well from my sources Angeal is scouting north, guarding Terras as he scouts for Mako reactor sites and Genesis is still in the test tube. So no luck there, the incident is finally biting."_

"_**The company lost a lot and is still losing. What is the update on replacements?"**_

"_I'm sure they can handle terrorist groups especially with the SOLIDER ranks increasing and the other forces they'll have the help they need . Listen have you told Kansi about Adole, I think she has a right to know."_

"_**Kansi is dead. She was killed the day after Bilal. She uncovered a group of Wutai soldiers in the Caves of Narshe the battle caused the tunnel to collapse. She didn't make it out. I haven't heard from Osino since he sent a trooper with the message, his PMS was also destroyed when they crossed Wutai resistance forces and the trooper may not have made it back with a replacement."**_

"_I'll report that to Cissinei, it'll probably mean more to her than us."_

"_**For one so young she is very impressive, it's wise of Veld to keep her there."**_

He had not responded to his seniors idle comment still reeling over the other news, four possibly five dead. It seemed the Guerrilla tactics were really working for the opposition; _so much for Wutai's supposed honourable samurai_. He glared bitterly through his shades but otherwise his expression remained neutral as he continued to spin. Yes it _was _wise Veld was making sure as many Turks were off foreign soil as possible but he knew this influx of beginners was the Presidents way of undermining their superior's arguments. He was more than intelligent enough to pick up the tense relationship the Turk department had with the rest of the company when he was just a recruit all those years ago and it had not changed since. Eventually the receiver became too quiet for his liking and he brought it back off his shoulder, he dare not continue where they left off, he couldn't trust himself but felt his friend needed a distraction just as much as he did. Luckily this evening had provided them with one.

"_You know Arisa, Trent and Kyo are coping pretty well back here." _

"_**..."**_

The quietness of the line, no shuffling papers or anyone moving in the background made him to check to see if they were still connected. They were but that was more concerning_. "Are you still there?" _

"_**Yes, I was just...it doesn't matter, you didn't mention Lyon or-" **_He sounded a little choked up and Shino conjured a particularly vivid mental image of his friend hunched over documents and reports, alone in a tent somewhere in the thick jungles of Wutai trying to keep it together so those left still had a strong a leader to depend on. The death of a childhood friend couldn't get in the way, Chanu would understand. Shino only hoped their deaths had been swift but he supposed he'd find out when the reports got back.

"_The Kid's not in good shape, Trent may have just put him out of business but the he'll probably bounce back given his record, the miracles the medics can pull off and the President's stubbornness will play a hand obviously."_

"_**The last being the most potent reason." **_The Wrynessof the man's tone caused Shino's eye to twitch but no one saw. It was no secret most of the Turk department was not senselessly loyal to the company but he'd never expected to hear any bitter word about their employer from his friend before. He put it down to the man trying to suppress his grief, nothing hurt more than losing someone close to you and everyone deserved a chance to release the pain and he was willing to feed it, he didn't think much of the Shinra family anyway.

"_Boss man just likes to remind us who's really in charge, that and he's hoping the Kid'll get himself killed."_

There was a noise on the other end as if he was trying not to laugh, probably finding amusement and comfort in Shino's mandatory comments on their Boss and taking the automatic role as defendant._** "That's not exactly true; he's proved himself invaluable to the company and is almost as indispensible as some of our most highly trained." **_

"_I know Cissinei is trying to keep him out of trouble, she's got her hands full with him though, I got some stories actually for when you get back, one set just last night with Scarlet as supporting star. Cissinei's just going to have to learn the hard way she can't mother everyone." _It was unusual for him to talk so much on the phone, it was enough to have some of the rookies begin glancing anxiously in his direction but he ignored them, he knew none of them had studied Mideelian and the conversation was safe from prying ears except for Cissinei's fake name.

"_**It's in her nature, and **_**he**_** needs to learn to stop playing with fire." **_As expected the conduct of any of their compatriots was an effective diversion, focusing on the living would keep their minds off the dead_**. "Someone should take him off her hands."**_

"_No one put him in them, she thinks she's helping Tseng but nothing's going to help him until this mess with Wutai is cleared up."_

"_**The War may end but help will never come, not the help we all need."**_

"_Everyone's got a ghost looking over their shoulder or a skeleton in their closet, you mean? We'll live we're Turks, it's in our nature."_

"_**Ha,**__" Shino sighed at his friend's little laugh, there was going to be sadness behind his determinedly serious words for a long time to come and that alone was going to keep hurting Raine because like him she knew her partner well enough to pick it up even if no one else noticed. __**"Hopefully these Rookies will adapt fast**__."_

"_They'll have no choice, got to pity them coming in at this time though."_

"_**Midgar needs manning, considering the reports I managed to send through Veld may want to rethink being so reserved with the resources**__." _This made Shino frown, this was the first he'd heard of any such reports. Then again as the department grew the circulation of certain documents were becoming more restricted and the tournament had taken priority with the President wanting to keep up appearances over anything else. He'd had Veld and Tseng running around for weeks getting things organised, anything from Wutai was possibly still in their desks with messages being sent out strictly on a need to know basis. _"I haven't seen the report you're going to have to fill me in a bit more than that."_

"_**Let's just say if we can't stop the matter here it's going to head towards Midgar. Their ripping through us, there's some big holes in our net and many sympathisers on the continent-" **_

"_Say no more I can do the math." _He hissed the situation was looking increasingly damning; he didn't need any more spelled out for him to know that. Once he'd finished he was heading straight to Dexter in Weapon's development if nothing else he could use a good drink and Dexter would appreciate knowing the fate of some of his old colleagues.

"_**I'm sorry to say this but if tables don't start turning ShinRa could be heading towards the end."**_

"_I know, I know. Look the Kid's in the medical room, probably has his laptop with him, I'll send him a message to pass onto Tseng and Veld along with another to Cissinei. You'll get that back up and you and Raine are coming back alive."_

"_**Heh, We'll try. Could you also tell the Kid to take it easy from me? If nothing else his humour would be dearly missed if anything were to happen to him."**_

"_Got it covered. Out."_

The PHS shut with a dull click, ending the connection and leaving him with a strange emptiness coated in fear for his friend's life. He hardly registered the gasps of anyone who had been paying attention to the large screen. It seemed a rookie had finally beaten a Turk.

_------------------_

* * *

If I keep tearing open the wounds they'll end up scarring, they said. The rate I use Restore Materia I beg to differ. Of course I wasted more than half my energy keeping the ones on me charged but, and I hate to admit this, if I'm going to make it through the night I'm going to need everything I can get. I wonder if you can get Mako poisoning if you use too many Mako based products. Well wouldn't be the first time I've overdosed on Mako. With all the potions and Elixir being pumped into me and who knows what being injected I'm going to start glowing, which I can't help but think would be kind of cool. Scarlet's paying for this though, I have no idea what she did to me but I've gathered enough from the 'good' doctors whispering to each other that she's messed up my natural healing ability or compromised it, hence the excess artificial substitutes I guess. No wonder Tseng was so mad, not every day someone under your command is used as a bio weapon lab rat.

I would be more worked up, you know kicking and screaming but the sedatives are a little too effective for their own good, I can't even keep my eyes open and the rest of me is simply numb from the neck down like I'm just a floating head. I want to know what's going on; the walls can't keep the noise of the audience out and whatever is happening it sounds exciting. Typically, the moment I think getting a good fight out of the rookies was something to look forward to I get careless. Tseng is right I need to brush up on my moves but the departments been in chaos since I came out of the infirmary after the incident, even Two Guns (should really stop calling him that) and that lazy, womanising Ex Terrorist (never caught his name) have been on the field constantly that there hasn't been a chance. I hate being bound to the building; it's as boring as Corel prison. _Urgh_, now that's a place I really could do without thinking about.

Another Cura spell washes over me; threatening to send me completely into the realms of sleep I'm so relaxed, they might as well have just used Dream Powder but apparently they avoid using 'attack' items unless absolutely necessary but there was all those other knock out drugs their usually fond of or a good old 'Angel Whipser'. Well since I haven't been moved it must mean I'm still up to fight, as long as the rookies hold out long enough for me to heal sufficiently. None have been sent in yet so the guys must be taking care not to harm them too much or finishing them off swiftly; if they can't fight back then the chances of them getting injured aren't as high, a messy technique can be more deadly than a perfectly executed one, or at least someone told me once. I suppose it's like guns, mess up a shot and the target can take hours to bleed out, get it right and they won't suffer.

You'd think one Mega Elixir would do the trick but another one is being shoved down my throat. It was so sudden I choked it back up; I think someone must be propping me up but if anymore goes down I can't tell I can't feel let alone taste the stuff, that's a blessing in itself Elixirs are gross. Anyway there aren't any more groans so I must be swallowing it. Looks like whatever poison is in my system just isn't giving up, at this rate they may announce I'm going to start degenerating or something. Probably not, ShinRa doesn't make a bio weapon they haven't got a cure for, or at least one in development. Maybe that's what Scarlet thought she was injecting me with, I'm not defending her I just know it would stroke her ego if her department came up with the cure to one of the many things wrong with me at the moment. I've read Hojo's Lab report and the amount of stuff I crashed through in his lab- it would have to be were all the diseases and other nasty things were stored- I'm a walking culture of every hazardous bacterium, virus and chemical poison going, natural or otherwise. It doesn't exactly fill me with confidence when one of the mad scientist's assistants starts joking they could just use my blood to kill off the Wutai army.

Yeah I should be dead, so mass bleeding and those weird fits I get are a small price to pay for life especially as I have been promised it is only temporary and I'm not contagious so long as I have my medicine. I know Hojo's going to get his way eventually and they'll start putting me in Statis so he can harvest some of what he's lost unhindered while I heal, he's already furious my immunity has "murdered" some species. My heart's breaking for him the venous, heartless, vile snake. Two departments lost some of their best men or had to take them out of action and all that man (if you can call him that) cares about is getting replacement _bacteria_. He had the nerve to request a 'pause' in my treatment to see how whatever is inside of me would coexist and what would 'out compete' each other as some had 'similar niches' (which is basically a high brow way of saying they like the same environment or eat the same stuff-which would be bits of _me_.) Thankfully Veld, Tseng and quite a few others had my back when news got around Hojo had made the request and the President had even given him permission. Guess that's what happens when your fate is in the hands of someone who would rather like you dead when you have no more value and another who doesn't give a Land Worm about life in general.

It's so quiet, I hadn't noticed before but all I can hear is a ringing and muffled noise which I presume is people talking around me. Something heavy duty is about to happen, no doubt involving my ankle, I can't complain I'm getting some feeling back but I don't know what's what, the hand I think is holding my right hand could be holding the left foot for all I know. Hands are everywhere actually, pushing quite hard and if I'm right about that gradually warming burning sensation starting from somewhere that I think is 'down' than I'm not going to be lying still for much longer. They must have known that, yet I'm still strangely detached from it all. Well not completely, I'm still aware of my limbs and body jerking because of the sharp coldness that comes and goes with each thump I can just about to hear. I must have hit someone as well as I'm aware of wetness on what must be one of my hands at the same time as someone other than me cries out and swears. I suppose you could say what I know _should_ hurt and sensations that _should_ register as painful aren't, in a confused way I know what is happening yet I'm not focused on it. It's difficult to describe and it's definitely not something I've been through before nor want to go through again. One thing I have lost all aspect of is, is time. The weird feeling seems to be all there is and then its fading and I'm wondering if anything happened at all. I can hear things and everything is where is should be, I can even wiggle my middle toes and know it's on my right foot.

I'm not clear headed, I'm just enjoying knowing my heart is in my chest pumping how it should be and knowing that strange achy tingling in my previously injured ankle means is as good as it was when I woke up this morning, maybe better. Somone's telling me I'm going to have to rest for a couple of minutes before trying to stand then someone is saying some new drug is going to help or- I don't catch the rest its drowned out by the massive cheering. That's reassuring that I haven't missed it. Someone's hand is running through my hair, its firm and doesn't quite feel real but its gentle, the way it strokes right to the end and pauses before starting again tells me its Veld and he's probably shaking his head, my hair hasn't exactly been his favourite thing. A keyboard is being struck far to my right, sounds like it's coming from the next bed. Knowing my laptop is the only thing with a keyboard this close to a bed the last time I had enough sense to do simple maths I force my eyes open. Ignoring my superior as I sit up surprising everyone and look round him to see Tseng sitting where I thought he'd be with my laptop on his knees. He doesn't acknowledge me, he must have noticed I'm awake since Veld and anyone medical are trying to push me back down again and I'm protesting hoarsely (my mouth feels like sandpaper.)

Veld eventually has enough of my antics and pushes a pressure point near my spine making me go limp but I'm still awake. He lowers me firmly back into the bed getting eye contact just so he can give me one of his disapproving looks. I'm about to yell at him, I don't know about what but I'm glad Tseng chooses that moment to interrupt, I'd probably regret just reacting something I'm still trying hard to control.

"Shino sent you a message, but we've saved you the trouble of forwarding it to us." The Wutai man informs me as he comes over to stand beside Veld, my laptop is closed and he's hugging it to his chest. "I haven't deleted it but once you read it remove it immediately."

"More bad news?" I ask, his free hand is holding mine now and I'm squeezing it, probably because that burning feeling before is coming back as pain killers and whatever else is wearing away and if I didn't have something to express my pain through it'd probably try leaping up and running it off, breaking something on the way.

"I'm afraid so," Veld sighs, he's uncharacteristically withdrawn, usually bad news would have him seething but I've come to know him well enough to figure the reason he takes failure so badly is because of the consequences it will have on the department or the possible deaths that maybe caused by the slightest slip up. A successful mission meant our safety and the respect for the department within the company would be maintained. His behaviour now is telling me something terrible has happened, a terrible failure and its way past getting angry about. "Tseng I'll see you later." With one last, firmer stroke of my hair- something he'd been doing automatically I realised his mind distant even when I tried to get up- he leaves.

There's a long pause which follows, Tseng doesn't want to say anymore on the issue and it's obvious he's not relinquishing my laptop for the rest of the night, I don't know what that was all about so I can't comment either. The medical staffs is taking care to give us as wide a radius as practically possible except the one man standing on the other side of me looking ready to pounce if I attempt anything. Tseng sneaks some tablets out from the inside of his sleeve, the same kind he gave me this morning. I look into his dark eyes, searching maybe for something that'll tell me what's going on behind them but their closed and I nod feeling strangely better than I did before.

"So who is refereeing the matches?" I ask slipping a bouncy ball from my pocket and start tossing it between my hands.

* * *

Lyon raised his hand to signal the beginning of another round. They were finally half way through the rookies with Trent and like himself and Kyo he was making reasonably short work out of them. The unusually high number of rookies was making this usually simple affair more work than it had been in the past. They'd been instructed to finish up quickly but it was going to be impossible to stick to schedule at this rate. Those with weapons were always going to be a problem, rookies or not they were still more skilled than the average street thug. However four were standing out, Kito, Marko, Kureno and the only one to not lose a match all evening, Rude. The tall man was proving to be the real dark Chocobo. They'd read everyone's records and though the man had slipped from second place ranking and become part of the only failed mission you wouldn't have realised the man on paper was the man they'd seen tonight. Of course Lyon suspected Rude had chosen to be last because the Turks would be worn out by the time it was his turn and he'd be completely rested.

He still couldn't believe he was careless enough to take for granted his finishing move may not have worked, he'd pulled it off with near perfect execution straight into the younger man's throat and assumed because he went down that was the end of it. It wasn't until his own face met the hard platform did he realise Rude had dropped down to sweep the legs from under him. All was lost from then on, the rookie had him pushed into the floor and it wasn't until Tseng announced the man as the winner did he get off. Lyon thought he was through for the evening but then Tseng requested that he referee the rest of the matches. He knew the Second-in-command was going to visit the Kid and although he thought they might as well let the redhead go straight to the infirmary instead of trying to do a half job and have to finish it up later he never said anything, they hadn't appreciated his opinion before they certainly weren't going to want it now. He knew the kid was going to overdo it; he had come out with something to prove and paid for it.

He was as bad as the rookies; too many of them were looking too far ahead that they were making mistakes. Rude wasn't, that man was like a machine his expression didn't change and every time he changed his game Lyon could imagine a little person inside of him just changing the setting. Every match started and finished the same, he would nod at his opponent maybe grunt a "Umm" then either shift into his fighting stance and at the end he would turn and walk off if he didn't feel obliged to help someone he'd injured. Lyon had not met many people like him before, such people he thought had no personality but they were good drones, efficient workers and worth having. Another who was taking things as they came was the small woman, Tabby. She was clearly resigned to the fact she wasn't going to win and was approaching each match with the goal of lasting as long as possible, a preserving and survivalist attitude that he could relate to. Her courage and sweet determination was more than admirable and he'd have to make sure she had a partner who'd developed her confidence and abilities. In the current climate if she ended up with someone who wouldn't take care of her she may not last a whole year.

The Rookie fighting Trent, Eden was giving Trent a difficult time, using his Katana to keep a good distance between them. Lyon knew another Turk who could teach this one a thing or two about using his chosen weapon, of course that Turk was incapable of staying anywhere for long and was probably not here tonight. Eden would have to get rid of the ponytail he thought as the young man tried a spinning attack; Trent nearly grabbed the length of hair as it whipped round. Lucky for the man his moves although not always graceful were quick. It took Trent a few more attempts before he finally managed to catch the man's wrist after dodging an elaborate swipe, possibly the man's attempt at a winning move that didn't quite work out and left him exposed- you're always at your most vulnerable during your strongest attacks. With a sudden twist the katana clattered across the platform and Eden was swing over Trent's head then off the stage, landing in a painful looking heap crumpled around his red and swollen wrist. The injury would be dealt with easily with a cure which Lyon proceeded to cast while simultaneously announcing Trent the victor.

The only ones left were Hana, Maya, Thatch and Rude. Maya went next. She started the fight firing three arrows at once, forcing Trent to dive to the floor her demeanour was strangely sombre considering the more cheerful and playful disposition she'd had most of the evening. Instead of firing at a distance she risked more close range attacks, trying to make sure they hit home and one did, straight through Trent's foot. The Turk cried out in surprise but reacted fast enough to dodge another arrow aimed at his shoulder. Maya was very close now her opponent appeared pinned, the long metal arrow had struck with enough force to go deep into the stage, it wasn't coming out easily. However the last arrow that missed was the last at her immediate disposal. As she swiftly reached round for another to reload Trent was already using a Transform materia, the 'mini' spell hit the woman before her fingers touched the feathers of her arrows.

With morbid fascination everyone watched the rapidly shrinking form until she was just 3 inches tall and utterly terrified but she should be grateful it hadn't been 'Toad' he cast, apparently that one had some embarrassing side effects if cast incorrectly and Trent was no Mage. Sighing, because he didn't know who to tend to first, the woman or Trent's foot he announced Trent the winner before considering either. By then Trent had almost fully removed the arrow and Hana had run on to the stage to rescue her distressed friend. Unfortunately he knew no one had a Cornucopia at hand but just when it looked like they may have to have a trip to the infirmary a medic came rushing out, the tribal style mallet already in her hands. Now that was dealt with he concentrated on healing Trends foot, the medic had also come with a high potion so after a few minutes both fighters were back to their original states.

Maya returned to the benches, Hana stayed. Out of the duo her style was naturally more aggressive and her personality much calmer as if she was constantly in a trance. Long black, fringe covering equally dark eyes which seemed to stare right through you, she cut a disturbing image especially looking at her down the length of a rifle. Still they'd come across worse in the field and rookies always made mistakes. Lyon noted with approval Trent kept the materia in his hand, something that was making Hana wary but there was little she could do if he decided to cast the spell in the limited space of the stage. They were both armed for long distance attacks and Trent definitely had the advantage in close combat. It would be interesting to see who would make the first move.

Trent did the honours, seems after the shot in the foot he wasn't taking the chance of it happening again. Materia could only do so much though; to the trained eye it was clear Trent was favouring the damaged limb much like he was still trying to keep his recently healed shoulder out of harm's way. Maybe this was why Hana was taken by surprise to have the man's large frame suddenly rushing towards her, she faltered causing the shot she fired to be too far to the right, easily avoid and she before she knew it the rifle was being pulled from her hands. The fake bullet was enough to slow Trent's momentum, making him change tactics from a full on tackle to a quick disarmament. Hana had good reflexes and sense; she didn't fight for the weapon doing so would only have got her thrown off the stage with it. Looked as if it was going to be a close range match after all, and from the glance shared between Lyon and Trent it was going to be quick. The woman was lissom, much like Maya but more willing to go for strikes and faster to withdraw if a move was going sour. She lasted two minutes more but eventually Trent's superior skill, stamina and experience got the best of her. He caught her leg mid kick; she lost her balance, slamming hard on her back while Trent quickly performed a leg lock. She tapped just before her knee joint snapped, signalling that she forfeit the match. Maya helped her limp off and Lyon could tell they'd probably become partners by tomorrow night, they'd make an effective sniper team.

Now the man walking onto the stage was one of the kinds Lyon wasn't sure what the department would do with. His weapon of choice, a spear could have a retractable design for concealment but it was not something commonly seen in the department and weapons development would certainly sniff at it with contempt. On their assignment together the strange man, although nervous had showed good intuition and curiosity but his actual fighting abilities were quite poor. His ability to blend in with ordinary citizens was quite exceptional, skilfully coming up with believable lies and more importantly sticking to them. Lyon didn't see him as cunning; the man's mindset was not malicious despite being good at deception, his earnest aura inclined people to believe him and maybe he didn't look smart enough to trick others and his clumsiness would appear to right him off as a bumbling henchman at best, a misleading image whether it was intentional or otherwise. On the other hand his combat skills ranked him approximately 14th out of the twenty rookies, in the past he probably wouldn't have made the cut.

As he predicted Trent made short work of him, making up time he lost with Hana. The Turk attacked first, forcing the man to act so he could counter his counter, get in close and strike the back of the man's head knocking him out. Wutai soldiers were fond of their spear/gun weapons, what Trent did was standard procedure when dealing one on one with a Wutai foot soldier and it was something these rookies were going to have to learn as well.

Lyon didn't care much for the fight, despite Thatch having been under his command for a short while and it was likely he would end up there again; the blonde Turk's interest was already on the dark skinned man making his way onto the platform. The rookies bumped shoulders accidentally, Thatch still dizzy from the blow to the head and rough awakening. In the moment Rude took to help steady the man Lyon shared a look with Trent and they nodded. It wasn't personal but they knew people had bet big money on each Turk going undefeated, Lyon and Kyo had already lost ruining a few of those people's evenings. They weren't going to be punished for it but tomorrow at the office was going to be murder, this was Trent's chance avoid that ridicule.

Transform Materia ready the Turk mirrored the rookies fighting stance, he took reassurance in the small orb glowing warmly in his palm, although he probably wouldn't need it since Rude was also a short distance fist fighter. Indeed Rude was taking note of the materia and considered his folly for never considering bringing some of his Fire materia, he'd nurtured some of his own to Level 3 which would have come in handy. Now he'd have to rely on Trent's poor casting, not many of the others had noticed or at least commented on the fact Trent had needed to focus entirely on Maya and it was only during the crucial second while she was also standing still did he cast the spell. Rude also speculated the man wasn't too confident at casting while moving especially considering he tended to move only when forced. Every Turk had particular strengths and weaknesses, good Turks were just very good at hiding the weaknesses and sometimes weaknesses could be found looking at a person's strengths. This was especially true for Trent; he could take hard hits and had more muscle than he knew what to do with making him able to take much of what anyone had to offer unless it involved cutting or slicing. He would rather endure than dodge so Rude had the advantage of speed but unlike those who were light on their feet he was also strongest and even if his frame wasn't as great as Trent's the force of his punches were possibly equal if not greater; neither of them knew this though.

When Lyon signalled they begin Rude dived to the right, zigzagging his way towards the Turk. As the distance between them shank so did his chances of evading a spell so he had to disarm Trent as soon as he was in range. Easier said than done, the Turk figured out what he was planning and ran forward to meet him. Perhaps Rude had made a mistake and the Turk could cast while on the move, however even as he thought that Trent proved his first assumption correct, the Toad spell he cast missed its target by a millimetre even though they were just three steps apart. For a moment time froze as the warmth of the magical energy whizzed pass his ear, and he took in the shock of Trent's face when he realised he's messed up, he felt nothing but relief then he reached for orb. However that stretched second gave Trent time to stumble back, Rude's fingers barely touched the man's jacket as he tripped forward. The orb disappeared from view and they were both on the move again, running around the small space maintaining a constant distance until they decided what to do. Rude kept moving in case the materia appeared again, Trent knowing the material was now a hindrance to his performance rather than a help dedicated his time to keeping his back away from the Bald rookie. It was unusual to have an opponent that matched him in speed and strength maybe surpass him and he needed more than ever to rely on his superior experience, he wasn't the type to lose because of over confidence or hot headedness like Lyon or Kyo but he knew he had faults so the key was to not let the rookie take advantage of them. The best way to avoid making a mistake was to overestimate his opponent that's what he thought. Unfortunately for Trent he couldn't make the most of Rude's obvious weakness, his comparatively worse speed and agility than the other rookies not to mention so far all forms of trickery had not fooled him, nevertheless he wasn't completely out of options.

The crowd was getting restless and his opponent was waiting for him to make the first move, well he'd just have to oblige. Rude was surprised to say the least when Trent started to charge, zigzagging towards him, mirroring what Rude to start the match. Unsure what to expect he froze in place somewhat intimidated but mostly analytical and a little tired of running in circles anyway. He heard some of the rookies, particularly Jim and John yelling themselves hoarse when the realised he wasn't going anywhere and Trent was still set on a collision course with him.

Then for a second it went black and silent. Winded and disorientated he followed his instinct to roll because somehow he had ended up on the ground. As the floor and far off ceiling took turns to appear in front of his rotating vision, he just about saw Trent's fist almost coming down onto him with enough force the platform actually shook on the impact. A hit like would that certainly should have jarred Trent's arm and naturally he'd need half a second to recover which was all the time Rude needed to get back on his feet and reset his jaw. It clicked loudly and the unpleasant achy feeling travelled right to his ears, he also took care of a crick in his neck at the same time. Once done he just about blocked another punch to his face, noticeably from the fist Trent hadn't slammed into the ground. A kick followed but the Turk's leg was too heavy to grab and hold up to make the follow through moves worth bothering with so he just parried it. Unlike with the others Trent's sheer mass didn't knock him off balance and he found the hard muscle knocking against his own better than the bonier feeling of everyone else he'd sparred with tonight.

The Turk smiled, impressed and quite enjoying someone who was still standing at this point. He hadn't expected Rude to take the straight punch in the jaw let alone stand up. Now they exchanged blow after blow like equals, each hitting clean and sending vibrations right through their limbs giving them the 'feel good' buzz any fighter enjoyed. But they weren't practising and both acknowledge this by trying to hit harder and faster until the other couldn't keep up, covering ground as they blocked, dodged and parried each punch, grab and kick the other threw at them. In keeping with Trent's build they progressed slowly, feet sliding somewhat reluctantly as they changed stances for each move adapting along the way to each other. Rude could feel his forearms and calves bruising from the brutal impacts, his skin glowing from the heat and rawness as fabric rubbed against it, minor discomforts of course but he was going to have to finish this or his new suit was going to get fade patches.

He knew it was despicable, he didn't know if Trent was going to fall for it as he over reached with a roundhouse kick he stumbled forward on a poor landing, a mishap from tiredness he hoped everyone would presume which left him wide open for an attack. The Turk, seeing the exposed back automatically brought an elbow down to strike hard between Rude's shoulder blades while reaching for the closest arm for a takedown. He got the arm but he also got a sudden elbow to the face. Rude snatched his captured limb back the second Trent's hold slackened and palm heeled the Turk's jaw much like what the Turk did to him before. Without pausing he grabbed the large man and brought his knee up to smash into his gut, elbowing him between the shoulder blades as well and dropping all his weight onto the man like a street wrestler. As soon as the man was on the ground he quickly twisted his arms behind his back and kept a knee dug into his spine in just the right place to prevent him standing up again. It was only after the man was secure did he feel the dizziness or the nausea from the Turk's blows, his ears were ringing so badly he could barely hear the gasp and applause. He did see Lyon signalling the match over.

Slowly he extracted himself from Trent's arms and then helped the Turk up, he was disappointed to see his strikes didn't seem to have affected the Turk too much for the man heartily smacked Rude on the back, which was also very painful and laughed, "Well Played, well I've never met anyone who could take the hits you took there, we should spar again sometime alright."

"...Uh" He managed to grunt before another hard pat almost sent him to the ground.

Trent seemed to be the only one laughing though, catching a glimpse of the other Turks he noticed Kyo was covering his face in his palms and Arisa looked caught between being concern and being impressed while Lyon was utterly deadpan and impatient to start the whole thing again with Arisa. The blonde Turk gave caught Trent's eye and meaningful indicated with his head to get off the stage, the large man complied and Rude felt relived his large presence was gone as he steadily went down the steps, careful to take deep breathes as it eased the pain spreading across his back.

"Rude, you okay," John called as he walked past the third row of benches, "You look...paler?"

Rolling his eyes behind the shades he smiled at Tabby as she came towards him, although she was going to start the next round of matches against the fourth Turk he knew she was heading his way on purpose. He patted her on the back before she could say anything though, offering her good luck in the next round, not that she needed it since the Turks seemed to be automatically kinder to her. She grabbed his hand mid pat and held it carefully taking in the heat, brushing her fingers over his tender knuckles. "I'm fine," he said gruffly, pulling his hand back while she continued to look worried, "Hurry they're waiting."

"Okay, but Rude don't do that again, tonight we can afford to lose."

"I know." He responded, giving her a nudge to keep walking, not looking at the rookies who were listening to their brief exchange and tried to ignore the sensation of someone glaring daggers into his back. When she went he returned to his seat to deal with the gushing of not only Jim and John but now Robin and Kureno who had joined some sort of cheerleading squad, even to a certain extent Lithia although she was more dignified and subtle about it.

"Wow, I mean...WOW!" Robin breathed while Kureno was all smiles – he did look very handsome when he smiled- and Jim and John were just the usual mix of tedious congratulations and teasing comments since they were running out of appreciative lines. Although by now they were accustomed to Rude's reception to this, primarily a couple of embarrassed nods of thanks at best, his two friends found it quite amusing to make a fuss to try and make him squirm. Fortunately for Rude they were always fell silent when Tabby started fighting.

It went much the same way as the others, or at least to Rude it did. The style and movements were different but the format was the same with a few exceptions; the weakest were taken out quickly and the better a person was the more time they were given or earned depending how you looked at it. Tabby usually got better a chance but they couldn't let her have too much time, it wouldn't look good for the more skilled rookies. Also there was always one they had some difficulty with and then there was Rude but then people could always argue they were tired by the time it was his turn. Arisa actually was probably the most rounded ability wise, fast, strong, agile and had many unique techniques which seemed to get her out of most hold if anyone actually caught her. The giant pointed wheels were effective against Maya's arrows or even blocking the fake bullets and she was more willing to throw her weapons when fighting the rookies. The only opponent that caused her trouble before Rude was Kureno but he suspected it wasn't because the man's tactics were difficult to counter, if anything she seemed distracted. Eventually she got over whatever it was that was bothering her and almost a tad recklessly she knocked him unconscious, trapping his sickles in her Chakrams and performing a flipping kick so suddenly she could have snapped his neck. She seemed to realised this and was a tad too flustered and apologetic at the end but Kureno- when he regained conscious- was laughing it off, a little intimidated by her more boisterous personality especially as she started demanding he go to the medical room even though (miraculously) nothing serious was damaged. It took some convincing by both Lyon and Kureno before she would drop it and she seemed a little shaken by it for a few matches after.

Swift, supple and a vocabulary of techniques befitting several tomes from a range of martial arts, it was always going to be a difficult fight. Arisa appeared to be able to nullify an opponent's strength and counter everything that had been thrown her way, she was probably the most well rounded competitor of the evening, her ability to read people was incredibly effective tool in battle so it was a wonder how Rude managed to disarm and pin her in the end. However she was tired. After so many consecutive fights, with most of her movements generated from the pelvis downwards her stamina was comparatively less compared to her male counterparts which were decisive factors in his victory.

As expected there were moments- more than he liked- that seemed impossible for him to come away conscious or without a Chakram nestled in a vital point. On such occasions the temptation to give up and have done with the whole thing flickered across his mind. However something, maybe his nature, his pride, the expectations of others or politeness to try his best when his opponent was doing the same, made him battle on and gain unnecessary wounds in the process. Maybe he should have given up, he needn't prove himself when he was honest with himself like his late master taught him yet it felt as if he threw the match now would be like throwing his life away in the real world.

His determination to snatch any chance he saw was the only difference between him and those equally skilled but inhibited by traits such as kindness or straightforward thinking. His promise to lead a fresh start but with little idea what that would mean left him somewhat blank, like a clean piece of paper although morals and values were still ingrained into him such as the want to help others and protect them. He saw these objectives as noble but recognised to a certain extent they would come to limit him blind him since he was not yet capable of the task of protecting or helping all those that he wished. At least the last few days of the academy and the days of admission had taught him an essential lesson, protect what he could, if he could with anyway you see fit, it seemed like the best and only realistic way of achieving his goal.

Behind the shades the days seemed darker, life's vibrancy and contrast removed it became duller and he was starting to see the gray. He knew more but understood less and though it was early days on a path he'd set himself long ago and vowed not to look back on would take a long time to crumble. He didn't really feel he was anyone anymore, a blank. Empty, he wanted to be empty so he could start his life afresh but being human it was an impossibility people just didn't function like that. Trying to completely erase the past was simple folly- unless gifted by some selective amnesia which allowed you to keep useful knowledge and abilities without anything knowing how you knew, like a machine he supposed – yet he could still save judgements until a later date. What was good or bad shouldn't matter anymore, he told himself, only survival mattered for now and to survive he had to win.

Slowly he'd been gradually changing the way he thought, tasting different outlooks in the hopes eventually one may stick and being unhindered by past and unclear future helped focus on the present, on not being bashed, impaled or broken which was a working strategy so far. A similar look was in the Turks eyes, deep in the depths of their mysterious black pupils the same nothingness lurked, everything else had been built around it, who they were, how they thought, what they wanted all twisted by the company bound to severe, protect and likely to die for live watch hounds for their master. Copying this mentality he could only hope for Youji's and his Sensei's forgiveness, while he remembered them before he stepped over the threshold of darkness that he knew he was heading for.

The Turks felt rather than saw this in him and acknowledged it by fighting him as an equal despite fatigue, responding to his blank page by making their mark on it. Arisa did this in blood, scratching into his skin, tearing up the new suit she had picked out for him but eventually she had grown careless, forgetting those with only the second to live for could be the most unpredictable, the hardest to read- the shades didn't make it any easier- although she recognised as someone burdened with conscious which had resulted in her miscalculating him, thinking he couldn't shed the past as easy as he was trying to do. When he charged recklessly into her chakram, points piercing so deep as to connect with bone of his forearm to push her back, knocking her over she was intrigued that he had turned out to be an interesting person. She was glad when he pinned her and for a moment the glasses slipped revealing the completely focused glaze in the once too emotional eyes. He would make a good Turk, maybe one of the best.

Then she remembered the chakram buried in his arm and thought he was a masochist moron who still had a long way to go.

By the time the noticed the applause it had reached thunderous levels, both wished it was still the distant echo but ignored it anyway since there was the more pressing issue of whether the tournament was final over or not. Perhaps that was what made Lyon hesitate, the rookies anxious and eventually the crowd quiet. People started looking at the balcony expecting instruction but Veld remained out of view for several minutes leading to discontented rumbles. Finally when their superior made an appearance he looked grave.

"Everyone," the senior's voice boomed across the room- artificially enhanced no doubt- ensnaring the crowd's attention, "We appreciate your patience up until this point and hope you will bare with us for one more round. You have seen enough already to know a new Generation has joined the ranks of the Department of Administrative Research which will compliment the company's ever growing military forces. Both will be crucial to cope with the growing external threats, the monsters that plague the continents, the extremist that with to terrorize us and Wutai who want to destroy us. A ruthless mentality must be adopted deal with this, each passing tournament acknowledges with more demanding challenges but the quality coming through has increased." There were general grumbles of agreement through the crowd before Veld carried on, "The examples of a select few of the candidates whom will protect all our interests should give us confidence the bad times will come to an end, ShinRa will be victorious and Gaia will be at peace once more." These words were met with even more applause and other noises of appreciation, Rude had to say Veld knew how to work a crowd when it was required of him.

While the audience was distracted few noticed Tseng, followed by Red slip out of the medical room and back on stage. Red was still bandaged up as he would fall apart without the fabric keeping him together and Tseng was even more emotionless than before. Lyon gratefully relinquished the position as referee and by the time Veld finished his motivational speech only the Wutai man and red remained on the stage, waiting.

"Now for the final round of the tonight's event, the undefeated from the first and second round will face each other. Although one is severely injured he has proved himself capable in the past regardless of handicaps. We trust these competitors will demonstrate the commitment we have at ShinRa for security. Such devotion will not be found anywhere else and it will carry us through the greatest hardships to come." More cheering but the fancy words were nothing but meaningless repetitions to Rude's ears, except the last part.

Somehow he knew it was to be, to Red again felt inevitable. Truthfully though he didn't want the chance to fight the redhead, he did not (could not) fight someone in the state Red was in, those crumbling morals told him no, his blank page even told him no – it didn't want to be stained by the experience of beating an opponent unfit to be out of bed, probably running on nothing but mako energy. Whether he's decided to discard his past and no look for a future he still had reason, still had the moments he was living by and to have a moment in battle with Red the way he currently was...it was wrong, unfair, insulting? Did they really expect him to fight someone in such a condition just to please the crowd, to wrap things up? Surely irreversible damage could be wrought if the young man continued to strain his body.

Standing, glowering at the foot of the steps changed nothing, the other rookies behind him where to stunned by event to do much more than wait as he did, unable to object as it wasn't their place but expecting the strangeness to end or at least believe they'd heard wrong. Eventually Tseng beckoned him on stage. There was no point arguing, Rude sighed inwardly slowly going up the stairs. He'd imagined thinking he was just a blank piece of paper, taking anything as they came regardless would guard him against feeling as reluctant as he did now. Typical as soon as he thought he'd found a mentality to stick to; he was faced with the one thing to shatter it. Admittedly he was still unclear what moral standing he was keeping and what he was willing to live without. His acceptance of his attributes and limits in combat were meaningless if fighting itself was unacceptable.

He had no choice. Forfeiting was out of equation; therefore he was left with the one thing he'd thought despicable for most of the evening, to throw the match. One way or another he was leaving tonight guilty and dissatisfied, he could already feel it. Still he reassured himself, he was flexible, blank, he could break trivial values to keep those that meant more to him, he would be situation dependable. He nodded to himself, as if it would somehow affirm what he planned to do, before finally looking at Red standing across the stage. Red gave him that look, radiating a million and one emotions hidden under his Cheshire cat smile, making Rude's insides shrivel deep into his gut as if he was being rung internally and his blood had gone dry.

* * *

Woo, finally its over XD Just so you know in the future Reno may do things that remind you of Axel from Kingdom hearts (if your familiar with this character) only because they are the SAME character/characterisation just in totally different circumstances so because Axel gets significantly more screen time than Reno I'm enlisting him aid my righting of the loveable redhead Turk. I did notice a scene in 358/2 day clip –the reason the sun is red- Axel is laying back and the close up of his face and his expression is almost an exact replica to Reno's in a clip of him in a trailer for FFACC (Advent Children Complete). Also Reno is very young in this fic, he's probably two/three years older Cloud and I think I'm setting it in 1997 (yes I have been researching) so he is very, very young here, but Zack is 16 at the start of CC but looks older- I'm blaming in on Mako- so actual age means nothing physically here only mentally so I'm being optimistic in trying to show his maturity through the story- I know I have to write the story to do that- so Axel traits should be few but you may notice them.


	12. Tournament III

* * *

The large space was heating up, too many heated bodies packed into the stands, exerting themselves as the shouted down to the fighters below. At times it felt as if the collective breath of all those people were stroking their collars. Already Rude's torn suit was damp and his forehead was slick with dew no matter how often he wiped it away. His heart palpitated madly, fuelled by excitement to near the end and fear at what he had to do. Taking the liberty to to gauge Red's fitness noticed his opponent leaning more on his right leg to ease the weight off the left but even that seemed to be causing him pain. It had been difficult to spot, the man-or more accurately he should consider him a youth- insisted on putting on a nonchalant pretence, Rude couldn't understand his stubbornness.

Tseng solemnly began the match just as he had begun those previous; silently raising his arm and whipping it down to smack the air at his side. At first Rude had planned to play the waiting game however drawing the match out tediously would just be cruel for so he charge the slightest feeling of guilt tingling at the back of his mind knowing this was far from a fair fight. Hopefully more good would come out of it ending it quickly, he'd be doing the youth a favour really.

Red was not fazed by Rude's charge, _another facade perhaps?_ Rude saw Red subtly shift his weight to prepare for the impact but didn't slow down. The hit with a sickening crunch, the large rookie's big mass ploughing straight into his foe. When the younger man took it, Rude was surprised, he was certain he would have dodged and had not his momentum kept driving him forward he may have stumbled especially now the redhead was clinging to him as he ran.

"You're quite fast."

Rude grunted his agreement as they neared the edge. He was expecting something from the other man who was still too calm for someone in his position and a small part of his mind was telling him to change action but the large more curious part was keen to see what the redhead really had. It happened two steps from the short drop off the stage.

Rude had not taken hold of the redhead, a little fearful of unseen injuries but mostly Red had been such a good job holding on himself it seemed unnecessary but at his choosing the youth easily slipped down his front like dribbled spaghetti. Automatically and almost comically Rude tripped over him, landing hard on his stomach, face over the edge. Had Red dropped down a second later he may have gone all the way over.

"That was close," Red commented dryly, standing up and rubbing his side. The landing had been hard on him as well and considering the collectively "oooo" from the crowd it had looked quite messy as well. As they staggered apart jeers started to come down already demanding more action. Rude scowled at the annoying noise.

"My, my so noisy." Red commented holding his head as if the echoing sounds were giving him a headache while casually moving out of striking distance, "Perhaps a proper show would make 'em happy?" The larger man didn't like the sly or maybe it was accusing look in Red's eye when he said this.

Red's manner of speaking had become a little darker, however he couldn't dwell on that as Red ran to the opposite end of the stage. Quickly the bald rookie took his place near the centre of the stage; ready for the next part feeling the ball was in the other man's caught.

Perhaps endeavouring to ensure he had Rude's complete attention Red charged forward emitting a cry to announce his move to his opponent. On instinct Rude crouched, preparing for another collision, instead he lost sight of the redhead altogether. _Impossible_!

Next second he felt a sharp pain in his neck, not enough to knock him but it let him know he could have been. Lashing out his arm met nothing but air even as he swivelled almost a full three hundred and sixty degrees. He stopped when he spotted Red standing ready for another charge at the edge again. Feeling less sure he resumed his defensive stance and waited as Red took another run up, surprised when the younger man suddenly jumped- so that's how he'd lost sight of him.

Watching Red launch himself into the air Rude forgot himself as he gazed, mesmerised at the sheer height the young man managed to reach. He should have been focusing on getting out of the way but his mind was too clogged up wondering

_How in Odin..._

The boot nearly smashing into his face was a good enough reminder to keep focused; he only just raised his arm in time. He hadn't expected to be fighting a grasshopper, surely only Soldiers- and just second and first class at that- could even think about jumping so high. Mind still trying to keep up with his eye he registered the weight on his arm had not done away; he was supporting the other man now latched onto his shoulders for support.

"You're eyes.... they look dim. I don't like it." Somehow his opponents tone managed to sound menacing and childish at the same time. Rude, slight unnerved, flung his arms out to dislodge the redhead, it worked and the smaller man back flipped to land gracefully across the stage (although the tiniest of grimaces escaped him). "You're distracted, why is that?"

"Just surprised."

"Better get unsurprised," Red responded quickly then added in a manner that could only be described as contemplative with a smile, "Otherwise you could die."

Rude grunted, he wasn't interested in falling for whatever his opponent could be pulling, "I'll keep that in mind."

Behind the juvenile smirk and playful motions- a rouse to cover the incredible amounts of pain the redhead was in most likely -he imagined he saw a venomous glint in the deep blue eyes. A whisper of evil seemed to fill the air and it was all he could do not to look up at the balcony where he imagined it was coming from. Regardless of this he made sure the tell tale dark stain had not appeared on his opponents new white shirt, he decided if he had not defeated the redhead by the time he started to seriously bleed he would forfeit the match. For now he'd concentrate on Red's third attack, this time he was able to track his slowing movements. His speed was equal to Kyo's now but the force behind his strikes was noticeably less, instead they were aimed for his pressure points but Rude was keen enough to parry most of the blows before they struck home.

Not giving up Red ducked and launched himself at Rude's midriff, maybe hoping to tackle him but the rookie responded with a snap kick aimed for the smaller man's shoulder (instead of the face as he would normally). Red countered by falling to the side supporting himself on one arm which he used as a pivot to swing, kicking Rude's knee and causing the larger man to collapse. Wisely the redhead didn't follow through to ground work, unlike Trent Rude was more flexible and was not stunned by the take down plus the bald rookie was practically on his feet again fighting back, although _fight_ may have been an exaggeration.

The Kata of feints and barely grazing punches or kicks which the redhead easily avoided were only remarkable for their speed which for the first few had his opponent retreating. Red soon got tired of Rude's teasing and responded in kind except he escalated his movements into actual attacks. Rude reverted back to the defensive while Red used him as a punching bag. Even though it wasn't his intention by failing to be serious his opponent tried increasingly more complex tactics and techniques to get a reaction rather than a submission.

Rude noticed the strain on Red's still recovering body as his breathing became more laboured and the fugitive contortions of pain increased. However Red continued to be the aggressor, staying in close allowing Rude to block a front kick and come in to capture Red's arm and sweep the redhead to the ground. However Red instantly rolled back up with such rapid speed it rendered the following hold down Rude may have tried implausible but it did at least get some distance between them again.

Assessing the damage he noted a tiny crimson river slithering down Red's boot and there were already streaks of blood running down his fingers. He was reminded of his first image of Red when the younger man crashed through the window, glass raining down like shattered diamond landing cat like as if he wasn't even human at all. Now he looked as breakable as that glass, each hitch in his breathing Rude imagined (morbidly) something else was snapping inside his opponent. The image wasn't lessened when a cough Red had been trying to fold back produced a spray of red droplets onto the stage, even when he wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve more was dribbling out. From the corner of his eye Rude noticed Tseng had tensed as if he wished to intervene but was restraining himself. Although Red for the moment was probably in no real danger Rude loathed to think of the unnecessary harm he would cause himself if he continued, it was less of a mystery why few believed a man who had no regard for himself could be a Turk. Depending on how long Red had served the company perhaps it was a miracle he was still alive.

Thinking it was for the best he relaxed his stance, looked over to Tseng and raised his hand.

Only a sudden pressure stopped him and before he had time to register Red gripping his arm the man used it as a lever to deliver a violent round house kick which had the his head spinning, following it with another and then another until Rude finally had enough sense to protect his head.

"Don't think about giving in," Red's unmistakeable voice hissed behind him. _Wait, when did he get there?_ "We haven't even started playing yet."

Feeling flustered, something almost alien to him Rude swung round in time to duck a nasty looking downward strike which had already taken Kyo and Trent out this evening. "Playing?"

However instead of getting an answer he was forced to dodge another speedy barrage of attacks, more striking home than he would usually allow but he was still disorientated. Doing his best to protect his face he spotted another punch aimed for his jaw, taking the chance he leaned back just enough for it to go passed his nose and in doing so caused Red to momentarily lose his balance. Not wanting to waste the split second opportunity he pushed as hard as he dared against the smaller man until he stumbled. Rude quickly side stepped and ran to the opposite edge putting distance between them again.

By then Red had regained his balance and instead of looking annoyed or disgruntled seemed pleased. He gave Rude a calculating once over than slowly started to walk towards him, Rude's gut's squirmed in dread as the audience quietened in anticipation. His heart thundered, pounding the beat in his ears. He raised his guard and said, "Continuing will only make your injuries worse."

With a careless air the redhead waved his words to the side as he advanced but his pace was much slower now they were in hearing distance, "I'll live, besides don't you want to show everyone here what you're really capable of?" He asked as if Rude was really missing out on an opportunity, "After all you've beaten everyone else, why not go for a complete set."

"I don't want it that badly."

"Hate to tell ya this Baldy but that's like saying you don't want ta _live_ 'that badly'. In the big world are ya going to let a hurt terrorist escape or a frail woman slit you're throat?" Though the words were accusing (and the insult unpleasant) his tone was not mocking at all.

"Does it matter _now_?" Taking the time to ask a question proved unwise for the moment he took to articulate his words he had to block another well aimed punch and he failed to detect his opponents other hand snake under his defences. He only noticed when he felt the painful tightening of his collar as it was caught in a fist and then he was pulled down with a force he didn't believe his opponent could possess, while simultaneously winded by a knee in his gut. Before he knew it the floor was spinning and all he wanted to do was throw up. The only think keeping him upright was the unyielding grip on his collar that was both choking him and holding back whatever was being forced up his gullet.

"Don't. Waste. Your. Breath. On. Useless. Questions. Or. You. Could. Get. Hurt." Red replied, voice guttural and determined, accenting each word with a sharp knee thrust in just the right place as to upset Rude's breathing and jostle his guts. Still he found it in himself to shallow the bile and answer back.

"Aren't ...you?"

As soon as he's said the last word Red pushed him back up, even though he was only a few knee thrusts away from certain victory. The large Rookie stumbled, gasping but before he could even raise his arms again a foot collided with his face forcing his head up, his jaw ramming hard into the rest of his skull, fpushing him further away. He could just see Red landing after the backward flip, eyes burning with something unidentifiable.

The space between them was much greater, enough for Rude to return to his sparring stance but Red didn't appear inclined to rush at him again (he appeared to be exchanging looks with Tseng) he quickly used one hand to reset his jaw, it clicked loudly but wasn't too damaged, he kept his other hand up just in case. The smaller male's shoulders were rising and falling rapidly, breathing definitely forced, uneven and shaky. His posture was wary and expression shrewd. Knowing Red was not going to attack him for the moment he dared continued their conversation.

"Still what more is there to prove? These last fights are just for Entertainment so-"

"Exactly," He didn't know what hit him, suddenly bony knees were latched into his side; he felt the full weight of Red on top of him as long fingers wrapped around his wrists restraining his arms that were crushed between their chests. Had he blinked? Because he no idea how he came to be looking into those almost demonic eyes. "So let's put on a show."

The momentum of the collision had them falling, but instinctively Rude had steadied himself easily cancelling out the effect of the man's weight and speed. He felt hands gripping his clothes, once again using them to cut off his air supply, awkwardly he pushed with all his might to dislodge the man and to his surprise he wasn't met with much resistance, if anything the force he exerted was used to give the man enough leverage to gracefully do another back flip.

That was thrice now his opponent could have finished the match. He knew Red was capable of it from what he saw back at the warehouse, using pressure points to stun and knock out people in a single strike no matter their size or ability. If he wanted to he could have elbowed Rude in the back of the head when he had him doubled over, it would certainly had knocked him out. Just now he had been close enough to just reach round and it would have been lights out or pinch the nerves that would have rendered his arms useless. He knew he could do it yet he had not. In Red's condition finishing the match quickly would be the most logical strategy.

He dared not look over to Tseng; least Red tried another surprise attack. But then it didn't seem to matter if he was looking or not and he really wanted to try and see how the second in command was viewing this fight. It was painfully obvious that Red was drawing this out and hurting himself as he had been all evening by doing so.

"Ya know," Red said wiping a bit of blood that was running down his chin, "It ain't as bad as it looks."

Rude cocked his head still somewhat wary of another attempt at a distraction.

"Seriously," Red pressed wiping off his jacket- there were no red marks on the chest or torso areas of his over sized shirt only a streak along his right arm and he quickly pulled the unbuttoned sleeve up revealing a long cut which was only bleeding because the jostling of his jacket during the fighting had somehow taken the scab off, it seemed the blood coming from his leg was caused by the same thing when Red also reveal his calf. Rude didn't comment on the red marks that would become bruises by tomorrow he had more than a fair few of his own. " And this," Red added pointing to his mouth then proceeding to stick out his tongue to show the blood oozing from it as he talked and smiled around it, "I 'it ma'ong." (_I bit my tongue.)_

"..."

Red laughed as the rookie mentally hit himself the sound was triumphant as he returned his appendage back where it belonged so he could enunciate properly, "So gonna come at me like ya mean it now?"

The Rookie didn't reply, the redhead's cockiness was not going to persuade him although seeing his fears for the man's health had been vastly exaggerated was calming. Still he didn't quite feel like going all out on the younger man which is what he obviously wanted.

"Stubborn aren't ya," Red sighed putting on a little theatrics by throwing up his hands completely confident Rude wasn't going to attack him, "Well how about I make you a deal, you do ya best and I'll make it worth your time."

Rude frowned but asked, "How?"

Red didn't answer him immediately, actually pondering his reply making Rude roll his eyes behind his shades he'd been expecting too much thinking Red had everything planned out and was luring him along. It didn't help matters that the audience didn't like this stop start display and were voicing their opinions loudly. Again he felt pressured to finish this quickly although Red now seemed content to take his time. He was starting to think the redhead was making the most of this one match since he missed out on so many, a little pitiful really but he could safely bet his money the younger man was a thrill seeker.

"Ya like information," Red suddenly asked snapping him back into the conversation, "_right?_" It was absurd how much uncertainty the smaller man could cram into that last word but it did the trick and Rude nodded feeling he was being lured into this agreement after all. "Great, then I'll tell you something no one else knows, what ya learn depends on how much ya impress me. And from now on I ain't holding back either so if ya want to leave tonight in one piece ya better start dazzling me quick." Ending the speech with a wink, acting as if the matter had already been decided (which Rude supposed it had) Red stepped back and looked at Tseng. The second in Command nodded and signalled something to the crowd, and judging from the response it must have been something that signalled the end of the unofficial 'time out', that was _awfully_ considerate of him Rude thought.

There was one matter though that needed rectifying before they began again. Also taking one step back he said loud and clearly, "Deal."

The Redhead smirked.

_Finally_!

I had a feeling this one would be interesting, I was right (but then why wouldn't I be?). Still it took a while to convince him to come out of his 'shell' so to speak, did that little incident with Scarlet traumatise him or something? Funny that he didn't respond to the pounding I was giving him, true I wasn't going hard on him just warming up but he changes his mind over a deal like that, sure is a weirder guy than I supposed.

Anyway now I know Rude (_hn still think he picked a strange name for himself_) can take more than a good beating that's something to keep in mind in the future- you know if I need a durable sparring partner or something. He's fast, well compared to anyone on the street for his size although mediocre by ShinRa standards still now he's starting to put all that muscle to good use I'll actually get a decent work out and show off properly.

Currently I'm crouching on the edge, trying not to touch the floor considering the amount of spit and blood that's got on it-most of it probably mine. Since he's started taking the initiative in attacking it's easier to assess his skills and so far he's lived up to his stats which is more than I can say for some, still I can't help thinking there is more up his sleeves and if I push the right button I might find out what it is.

Oh here he comes again. I don't mind, I was getting bored of going to him all the time although he could make it less obvious he's trying to push me off. Looking into his face now I can tell he's pretty determined this time, -probably cleared his mind of everything else, he does have that look about him not a good idea on a mission but now I suppose its okay. I'm not worried, I've researched enough about him to figure out he's not the kind to make mistakes often. Still I want to laugh at his perpetual stony face.

What is a little scary though when he runs at me is the reminder of the time I nearly got my head taken off by a train- come to think of it I need to ask Reeve just who decided to put manholes in the train tracks anyway? Must be the similar feeling caused by a large mass coming straight at you, the ground shaking...of course Rude is human and not a hundred odd ton machine and I'm bigger myself, good thing to otherwise what Im going to do next definitely wouldn't work.

Counting to five I spring forward, raising my forearms as I do. The impact with his knee was expected but still hurts, like smacking into rock. I've grabbed onto his trousers, it's not a strong hold and even as I kick off the ground as if I'm going to do a handstand he's already moving back and his pants leg slip out of my grasp. I just somersault forward, managing to got touch the floor and I've landed facing him. Not what I wanted but lucky. I dodge the straight punch for my headg. I can't help smiling (a little madly) as he continues to aim useless punches at me, I evade them easily and I get a little thrill seeing the glimmer of shock that crosses his features when I'm gone from his line of sight. Whatever magic they worked in that medical room feels like a miracle, I haven't felt this good in ages but Tseng did tell me it was a temporary thing and I could look forward to being bedridden most of tomorrow. Kill joy.

Ducking down and avoiding a roundhouse kick I strike, aiming for the nerve in the leg that would definitely make the limb useless. I hit home and I like to think I've made Tseng- stick in the mood as he is- proud when the rookie stumbles. Leaping up I show him what a roundhouse should look like. I'm too fast for him to even consider reacting and I send him spinning.

"I thought you were going to try harder," I taunt, watching him get up quickly (too quickly) and shake his leg experimentally, it seems fine and I frown. He hasn't even acknowledged me maybe his ears could still be ringing. I bite back a laugh wondering why I just seem to get giddier. Thankfully he's racing towards me again and I don't have to think about my state of mind.

I run over all the styles and moves I know but acting on reflex and instinct, nothing I did looking as graceful as when Tseng showed me or really resembles much of anything anyone has taught me in fact. At least I know I have a wider arsenal of techniques than my opponent so eventually I pull of something that catches him by surprise. Almost infuriatingly they never keep him down; am I doing something wrong? I spare a glance at Tseng and he's wearing that 'laughing-on-the-inside-at-your-misery' look, which isn't helpful.

I hide my confusion- well it's starting to become frustration- by egging the guy on more, "You want to win or what?" I leap into the air to stomp on his back, just to rub it in as he's getting up. I wasn't expecting the hand to shoot out and grab my ankle though; before I can scramble and grab anything I'm being swung round like someone would swing a bucket. Nausea grips my stomach as blood rushes to my head after the third spin. He kept going (the sadist) and I am just about to throw up when he finally lets go. I was definitely flying, flying to the edge. Swallowing back bile I jerk my body just to try and slow down in any way possible. My clammy hands managed to scrap the stage; I was dangerously close to the edge but now I'd made the connection to the floor I relaxed letting gravity do most of the work. In a way that could have broken my neck (if I wasn't me) I naturally twist and flip to end up unsteadily balanced on the brink. Slumping forward and stretching out I keep my weight on my burning finger tips finding the lower down I am the faster my head stops spinning and the urge to lose my stomach contents weakens.

The Rookie looks confused with himself, as if he couldn't quite understand he'd just tossed me across the stage or he's wondering how I recovered, either way I'm pleased with his expression and happier I put it there. My heart is already returning to its normal speed and I feel its time to spring. Tseng usually chastises me for relying too much on my gut feelings and I have ended up at his feet clutching said gut before now but this time as I duck under the strike Rude prepared to greet me with, grabbing his wrist and using the forward momentum he started to throw him into a long fluent arch I know I made the right decision.

Rude practically rolls through the whole thing coming out unharmed showing a sort of lumbering dignity that I'm almost envious of. Even as he blocks my strikes and kicks he is as steady as if he were part of the buildings frame work but I can see even behind the shades he's flinching. He draws himself up just a little bit and I know he's going retaliate. So I relent, giving a little allowing him to take the chance feigning a bout of exhaustion. Even if I don't think he's that fast he's fast enough to nearly take my head off. As the slightly damp fabric of his sleeve chaffed my cheek I smelt his sweat most potently, it didn't have the same smoky and poisonous mako tainted scent that usually lingered round those born and bred in Midgar but there was something of gravel, street grit and I dare say waste land dirt that I recognised from the morning I went to great pains to awaken him. The urge to laugh again rose within me but another fist aimed for the side of my head helped quell it. I block by meeting the arm with a rising forearm, other hand shielding my face as I find myself on the inside, practically face to face with his brooding one, the fat droplets running and dripping unattended and freely from his bald head straight down his face, neck or nose. I can see the dark glass is misting, marked already by the salt and minerals that stuck when the water from the sweat that had landed on them before evaporated, the remains forming noticeable shapes. Whatever, they can't be much good to see through. I see his deep chocolate irises peeping over the black rims, the glaring lights shining on us-making the insufferable heat between us that more intense- sharpness everything to a new distinction. As if that wasn't bad enough we're so close and breathing hard into each other. His breath (that smells of nothing but energy drinks and potions, enough to make me loathe the thought of what _my_ breathe smelt like) is pressing into my face and again I am engulfed by his bodily odour and cologne I didn't realise he was wearing until now. I don't like it.

He's still throwing punches at me, swift hooks and straight ones while I lost my senses taking in- no, now I feel I am simply absorbing- the heat and scents from his bigger frame looming over me. I remained directly in front of him instead of going round the outside but it eventually worked to my advantage when I recalled what I was doing. Using my right arm I block two consecutive punches, automatically side stepping into so there was no longer any distance between us and fit my leaner body easily and snugly into his. In one motion my arms swing in circles as I simultaneous bent my legs and pushed my hips out. The continuous punches he used before already had him leaning forward, enough to make taking the rest of his balance a little easier but I still grunt from the effort as his greater mass presses against my back and over. Something tears right up my side, the shooting pain just like this in the bathroom earlier today threatened to break through my lips but that was the last thing I wanted. Alleviated of Rude's weight, accompanied by a satisfying thudding noise, I immediately scamper backwards. I felt Tseng's eyes on me and I wasn't sure what was more piercing the pain in my side or his gaze. A flush goes through me leaving me chilled and almost clammy, I bite back the curse or any other sign that I've overdone it save for my paled skin. I'm thankful for the bandages as much as they make it difficult to see and sometimes move- or at least rub uncomfortably- they would slow the bleeding I know is really starting now.

So busy trying to not think of the pain, I didn't notice Rude rolling along the floor and it was only when my left ankle is caught and I am falling did I care to check where he is. At least I had been fiddling with the bandages on my face, damp and already worn they were irritating but made a good excuse for why I didn't react sooner. I hit the floor hard, saving my head at the last second but the break fall came too late and I only achieve smacking my arms hard against the platform, adding the sting shooting through my arms to the jarring pain over my back while all my inner organs had slammed up before falling back into place. The crowd gave another collective "oooo" noise appreciating just how bad it was.

I didn't have time to savour the feeling, coughing and spluttering like I'd been drowned I yanked my legs away but didn't have the energy to bound to my feet just yet so rolled and rolled, adding dizziness and unnecessary pressure to my growing list of aliments. Getting back to my feet, a twinge runs across my ankle, the muscles and tendons twisting awkwardly and though I don't give it much thought as I'm back to dancing to and fro with my opponent it sure feels like insult to injury. Oh course aside from the split in my side the rest isn't anything I haven't handled before.

Smirking at Rude, as if nothing had happened I welcome his next advance suddenly adapting to some of the stranger moves Tseng has taught me, their named after animals or something. It works in startling my opponent again and he fumbles. Now I have him off caught I do some fancy hand gestures and many elbows strikes, I believe my teacher would call this 'crane' style but I'm going on what feels right. Really the only weird style I like would be 'monkey' style. Hmm I wonder how my rookie would react to that.

Springing back I adopt the very low position I need to be in and start doing the odd weaving, pouncing, leaping movements, going in and bouncing back while the big guy wondered what on Gaia is going on. Still the pain in my side is severing from all my twisting and turning, I almost freeze midair after jumping over Rude's shoulders if it wasn't for gravity. I land with a grunt, wincing but I don't think anyone notices. Maybe I'll have to give those arts a rest, speaking of which I need to get my breath back.

I pause a moment too long and the next thing I know I'm being tackled, strong arms try to wrap around me but immediately my own arms fling out, preventing the bear hug and grab his hands, pressing down on his thumbs as I raise our arms like curved wings. At the same time I kick back my right foot connecting with his shin while dropping on my left yanking him over. As he falls his much stronger arms overpower mine and his left arm reaches to grab my right wrist. I end up sprawled on told of him, my own hold broken but I don't let that stop me as the adrenaline high finally kicks in. Swinging into a top mount I'm not exactly sure what I want to do; only it eases the pain on my wrists which Rude now had told of, his grip is as tight as crab pincers. I don't really have to think much about what to do as he's quickly dislodging me, as I fall I twist my arms using the natural weakness of the thumbs to ruin his hold and bend my legs prepared to kick out if he even tries to get on me. He does not instead he easily reaches over and tries to choke me, squishing my lungs in the process. Well two can play at that game. Tightening my chin against my chest I slip one hand into his jacket collar and use the other to drag down, coming up slightly to hug him to me but he instantly sits up as soon as he feels it. This is just what I want. Using one foot planted in his thigh and the other against his knee I push back, swivelling on my side intend on using a scissor action to take him back down. He already has hold of the leg which was on his thigh but no matter as I raise this leg up to his shoulder to hook round his neck as my other leg goes to greet it to complete the choke, my hands are occupied in locking his arm. It's all going perfectly until he stands up and I'm upside down again. I hear laughter and scowl. Releasing his arm and touching the floor I gracefully unhook my legs, performing a sort of upside down splits before cart wheeling to the side.

I hate how I'm already quite tired but Tseng did warn me with the blood lose and medicine in my system it'd be feeling fatigued more than usual (and I shouldn't push it), at least I don't seem overly giddy for no reason any more like I've come off a caffeine high. Rude seems completely fine, his breathing a little laboured but otherwise he's as fresh as early morning light. He's running at me again but he won't get me by surprise this time, I run at him as well intent on a sliding tackle until I change my mind and instead head straight for an upper cut. I don't quite pull it, actually I completely misjudged the distance and we end up banging heads.

OW!

I stumble back seeing spots, that's when a fist that feels likes it's made of rock slams into my cheek. For a second the world is black until a stabbing sensation in my diaphragm brings me back to reality and it spreads right through my split side. _Oh leviathan_ I can't let him knee me again. Great he's got me in an arm long, how am I going to get out of this?

Twirling as if I were his female partner in a dance I spin my arm back into a comfortable arrangement, doing a high kick when I'm right round to knock his arm away, swiping it down again in a sort of 'back off' gesture. He gets the message, stepping back but before he starts taking in my condition I start running round him in circles back to what I was doing at the very start of the match, even if my leaps aren't as great in height and the extra effort I have to put in hurts like Infrit is sticking a poker into me I won't lose.

_So Erratic, _Rude inwardly groaned. Just when he thought he had a grip on the situation his opponent seemed to just change in an instant, stopping and starting like a temperamental engine. It wouldn't be so bad if he could just get his hands on him. How the redhead hadn't been flung off the stage that last time he tried was a mystery not to mention all the other risky moves the youth did with seemingly little thought, effort or care. Had Rude attempted the same thing, well he knew he wasn't even flexible enough to try in the first place.

He'd never fought with someone so ...slippery. It was bad enough he kept losing sight of the redhead but he couldn't keep his grip. Add to that, unlike everyone else it didn't seem Red had a strategy or plan he could figure out, one minute he was lashing out like a brawler, the next he could he hopping all over the place or doing complicated martial arts as fast as lightening, in fact now the redhead was clearly exhilarated his very touch was like electricity crackling over Rude's skin. Then there was that head butt, what was he trying to do with that?

In any case it seemed Red was back to using him as a punch bag but Rude was now trying to give as good as he received- if he could actually make any connections. Red's forte had to be dodging, it seemed barely any of his attacks touched and he was getting incredibly worn-out (and he knew it would lead to sloppiness) although he made sure to keep his breathing controlled and steady. His plan to wipe his mind clean and start anew was ruined; instead he was rummaging through his head for anything, anything at all that would make sense of Red's movements. All his discovered was from the start the redhead simply made everything up as he went along. He supposed it must be nice to feel as confident in one's self as to act on any whim they felt like but it was certainly a nightmare for him.

Currently Rude was feeling his mind and body were reaching their limits, he barely noticed his opponents diminishing performance as well. Red seemingly unwavering self assurance seemed to be sapping his will even as he tried to muster enough to give a decent fight. He maintained his poker face watching Red run circles around him, turning to keep him in front of him although it didn't seem to do much good when the lithe man would abruptly dash in and attack him before retreating just as fast. He was getting frustrated with this entire tactic changing.

He could not see the slight grimaces as Red put too much pressure on his now numerous bruising. He'd reached the point when his system struggled to balance energy for recovery and motion, everything the senior Turks had warned him about catching up on him. When Red stopped Rude took his chance, storming forward he almost landed a punch but the little eel sprung back just in time to avoid it. Rude followed him as he rolled, anticipating the kick as Red again tried to make him back off. He noticed the redhead was smirking and thought he was enjoying this. He swiped the leg out of the way, coming into the side but again Red was getting away. However they were too close for him to escape. Rude grabbed a fistful of his jacket expecting to end the match in the next moment.

Instead he was smacked across the face with a metal rod, sending his glasses flying to the opposite end of the stage. Reeling from the blow he loosened his grip, staggering back. He was faintly aware of Red's heavy breathing as he clutching his swelling cheek eyes tightly shut from the burning lights. As Red carefully got to his feet Rude retreated to where his glasses had skidded, squinting to see where he was going.

By the time he reached and adorned the accessory Red had gathered enough energy to perform a bit of magic, much to the audience's joy. The only warning Rude go was the sudden and unnatural green glow that engulfed him, he almost thought someone had cast a cure on him. Then he felt a heavy pressure just before he hit a wall. It took him another second to adjust to his predicament. He was trapped. He was trapped in a green, film pyramid to be exact, as thin as silk but as unmoving as diamond. He could see clearly through the cramped prison, only everything was shaded with an emerald green sheen. Punching the wall uselessly, he saw Tseng looking as surprised as he felt. This troubled Rude so far Tseng had seemed to be the only one unsurprised by whatever Red did. He quickly turned to his opponent. He was still standing at the other end of the stage but he looked exhausted. Slumped forward with his hands on his knees as his shoulders heaved up and down, he was looking at his work with a mixture of smugness and shock, sweat clearly dripping down his face. Knowing this would be the end if he didn't do something he started punching the walls as hard as he could in the small space, they were all as effective as when he first tried. Tseng looked ready to announce the winner.

But then the film shimmered. Then it flickered. Then it started to fade until it feebly shattered altogether, the pieces dissipating into the air.

"S-shit," Red breathed looking ready to collapse. Rude took a moment to see how Tseng was viewing this development. He thought the second in command looked sad for the Turk, disappointed for him as Red didn't seem able to express anything but need for air. Rude supposed this was his chance.

Rushing towards Red for what felt like the hundredth time he readied for a sacrifice throw something he hadn't tried yet and he was sure his opponent would not expect. It started perfectly. He aligned himself in just the right place, fists full of Red's jacket and shirt and was just falling down when Red decided he was going to fall the other way. Rude ended up on his back, one foot in the air with Red sitting awkwardly under the leg, his own legs sprawled out like a rag dolls. It wasn't the impressive display Rude had been aiming for.

"So much for putting on a show," he muttered, lowering his leg which Red redirected lazily from landing on him.

"You said it."

Leaning on his elbows he observed Red with a frown conveying his surprise. He had not expected Red to hear him but thought the man would make an effort to move. Then again Rude found the idea of getting up a laborious one; still if they just sat there it would make a mockery of the whole event.

In unison they performed backward rolls, raising themselves as if they were each other's mirror image but Rude was looking a little better for wear. Red took a couple of panting breathes like a wheezing dog before they lunged into another bout of cat and mouse- even if there was some confusion as to who was the cat and who was the mouse. It was much slower this time, and Rude sensed the match could end in a draw. Even if Red's body was screaming in pain the younger man wasn't going to give up. His exhaustion had stripped much of the cockiness from his act exposing the simple stubbornness and pride that was typical of the average teenager who had a point to prove. However normal teenagers would still know when to stop eventually. Whatever Red's age he was not normal. Rude's gradual sluggishness began to leave cracks in his defences and despite limbs internally burning from lactic acid build up Red made the most of them until at last a single when aimed strike to the back of Rude's head, that had been so well guarded until that moment, knocked the rookie out.

Red won.

It couldn't have come sooner for almost as soon Tseng announced his triumph the redhead finally let out a pained yelp and crashed to the floor, leg's giving into cramp. The sound of his groaning welcomed Rude back to consciousness as well as the voluminous applause, everyone in the stands rising in one to show their appreciation for the winner, the last fight, to all the combatants and because it was finally over.

Feeling, hot and dizzy Rude tentatively reached for the back of his head, slowly curling his body up from its spread eagled position. The knockout blow was no worse than anything else he'd received, it just been in thr right place but touching it made him feel sick. Quietening a moan he rolled steadily back to his feet supposing that people weren't crowded around him yet he'd only been out a couple of seconds at most.

Tseng gently pushed him to one side so he could tend to Red's legs. Rude only just noticed the younger man collapsed beside him, still on the floor looking in absolute agony as he gripped his legs. Tseng reluctantly cast a cure and massaged Red's legs, the whole time muttering in Wutain. Rude could have sworn Red was replying through his gritted teeth but everything was unclear in his still fogged mind.

He waited until Red could stand before he congratulated him. The redhead appeared to take the praise warmly but Rude could tell the poor state of his body was bothering the man but didn't comment on it feeling Tseng's close presence and determined to keep things professional by staying mute. When they shook hands he was aware that the redhead was leaning heavily on him to stay upright. "Good fight." Rude said but Red only gave him a non committal grunt.

The rookie had to nod at this, there had been nothing 'good' about that fight from its pointless beginning to its messy end. The Red surprised him by bursting into a violent fit of mad laughter, one hand still clutching his like a vice and the other arm hugging his belly as he doubled over. Shocked Rude stood stock still until a nasty coughing episode cut the cackling off shortly. Tseng stood nearby one eyebrow raised but had an air of patience about him. It didn't seem like they had to be rushed off the stage.

Rude looked over the Redhead to the other rookies most of whom look apprehensive, knowing it was over but not sure what it would mean. Looking at the Turks he noticed they were already marching off in an orderly line. Some people in the stands- mostly ShinRa employees were also departing. The grip on his hand let go. He immediately reached out and grabbed Red's shoulder, the youth still seemed unsteady on his feet and his eyes seemed slightly glazed but they were clearing even as Rude watched. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live," Red smirked. It was obvious he was still hurting but Rude felt himself relax seeing the familiar look unadorned with anything malicious or scheming. "See ya around big fella." He flicked his hair back over his shoulder and walked passed him after the other Turks. Rude noticed his irritating speech pattern had returned.

He watched the smaller man for a little while, his progress was very slow and Tseng was obviously shadowing him as Veld made his way from the tunnel to the stage. Just then he remembered something.

"Wait," he said, gruff voice carrying to the retreating figures making them both stop and look back at him. He fixed Red with a steady stare, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

For a long time Red looked confused, well like a chocobo in the headlights really, but gradually realisation dawned on the younger man and his startled expression broke into a big grin. "Oh ya, I forgot! Good thing ya remembered." Somehow he got the energy to start gesticulating and start coming back to Rude, his gait still careful but eagerness had returned to it. Tseng was looking between them in vague interest. Rude met the youth half way also keen feeling he'd done enough to get something back on their deal.

When they were within arm's reach Red grabbed hold of his jacket so Rude ended up holding them both up. He tugged a little and the bigger man bent forward allowing Red to whisper in his ear. A couple of seconds later they pulled apart and Rude smiled- all his work to receive such a trivial piece of information. Part of him felt duped yet knowing the younger man's name was quite a prize when he imagined he'd been trying to hide it from him since he'd asked about it. "It's nice to meet you Reno."

"Names are important to ya?" He asked as if making sure Rude was content with the 'exchange'.

"Manners." Rude corrected.

"Like introductions?"

The taller man nodded.

After a brief pause the redhead held his hand out for Rude, "Okay, I'm Reno of the Turks."

"Rude," He replied, taking the offered hand and shaking it. Tseng observed this curiously, the large rookie imagined the man found some amusement in it as well. That also reminded him of something else. Reaching into his pocket with his free hand he produced the bouncy ball he'd been carrying the whole time and offered it to Reno. "This is yours."

The redhead stared at the ball, letting go of Rude's hand to reach for the item before thinking better of it, "Nah, keep it. Ya can start ya own collection like the Superior." He added looking over to Tseng whose expression became one of disapproval. "Good idea keeping it on ya, never know when you'll need one. Hopefully I'll see ya around baldie." With a wink and a wave he strolled away, or as best as one could in his condition. Nodding Rude left the stage as well thinking of nothing except his bed while Veld closed the evening with yet _another_ speech.

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I rewrote this chapter a couple of times, I have bits of it all over the place and I'm still not happy with the final result, my writing ability has gone down the pan somewhat but I'm glad to get this out of the way. If anyone suffered reading that I'm grateful you did and sorry for the disappointment it probably caused. Now I am in university I imagine I'll have more work to do (thats what I get for picking a science subject) but I also left all my notes for my plans for this story at home D= Well I did make them when I was much less mature than I am now so maybe that will be for the best, but then it won't really make much difference unless I actually update. Hey ho ^^; I do want to so I will try. I'm still discoevring things about Reno's character which is making him quite hard to write at the moment and I'm getting fan interpretations quite muddled up as well. I suppose from here on out if this story is going to go anywhere I will have to get my head around it. Sorry again for the usual bad grammar and spelling. I do check through my work but it seems I still make a lot of mistakes.

If you would still like to I would be happy with any reviews you give.


	13. Parties and Partners

**Happy New Year Everyone **

**8D**

**Thank you for the lovely comments and reviews for this story, its wonderful knowing your opinions and the help, encouragement and advice you give is always appreciated!**

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Four boxes. Everything he owned in the world was squished into four measly boxes, usually used to transported stacks of A4 pieces of paper. One box was half filled with his personal documents which he would soon to be alleviated of by this afternoon, along with his rookie uniforms in another which would leave him with a little over two boxes. Rude turned his attention to the smallest of his boxes which was for his most personal possessions and at the very top of the objects within sat his shades and the bouncy ball. Sighing to himself he donned the dark glasses and left his room. He had no destination in mind it was just better to be doing something than sitting uselessly in his room.

His biological clock had demanded he rose at the usual early hour, no matter how late they'd been up the previous night. He had tried to relax in his bed but he quickly grew restless, lounging was not normally part of his routine. Although he was still aching from the previous night and he knew he may plough into the day in a tired stupor for the first couple of hours he still blasted the last dregs of sleepiness in a hot shower. He had optimistically assumed packing would take most of the morning and lead him into the afternoon but it ended up only consuming fifteen minutes maximum of his time.

He stopped in front of Jim's door. Part of him presumed the older man would be awake but a wiser part guessed the man would be taking advantage of a morning off. To make sure he knocked softly, but still loud enough for a conscious person to hear. No response. The smallest of grins broke onto his face, the first of the day, just imagining his friend spread out in his sheets still in the land of dreams. Rude was slightly jealous of him but did not dwell on it, carrying on wondering where he should go next. There were still many floors his key card was denied access, it wouldn't be until the afternoon or even tomorrow would new cards be issued increasing their freedom another notch. However he quickly discovered his card was now being denied access to the higher floors, including the one the break room was on. Curious he tried getting onto other floors but was greeted with red blinking lights and denials except where the training floor and levels one to twenty were concerned. Accepting this development with another sigh he chose to go to the training floor although the sight of a large gym wasn't something he was keen on at that moment.

Although the corridors were all almost completely metallic, the only decoration being simple lighting and functional signs it was incredibly warm. The pipes ebbed in the walls radiating their heat whether they contained water or electrical energy. The warmth encouraged his drowsiness so he tried to walk in the centre of the corridors just because it was marginally cooler. No matter the hour ShinRa Tower was always busy, less so during the night and early morning shift just before the change over, but still enough for Rude to get in the way of working people. Most of the people he passed were in suits and many were also on the pallid side, years without natural light would do that to people he supposed. Even if he was in their way not as single one spared him even an exasperated glance simply stepping around him like he was a piece of furniture that had always been there. They weren't in a hurry either, they simply moved at a reasonably fast pace in an almost trance like state, their one track minds focused on the tasks they were in the middle of. Rude quite enjoyed the slower tempo; it was comparatively leisurely and suited his state of mind. It was like walking through ghosts Rude thought, or at least it would be if those sort of ghosts existed instead of the malicious monster kind. Then again he had heard rumours that some parts of the planet had real spirits.

He reached the Gym in good time. It was already occupied but that did not bother him. A couple of people looked over when he entered but quickly went back to whatever exercise they'd been doing, some gave him a second glance when he just sat down on a bench and did nothing else. These people he quickly realised had been among the spectators the night before and were probably telling their friends if they recognised him. Rude zoned his surroundings out accepting a moment of quiet contemplation, the background activity settling his mind. Until the sense of someone approaching forced him back to the present. He waited for them to be right behind him before turning.

He surprised them, their hand was hovering in the air as if they'd just been about to touch him on the shoulder and Rude was aware by now whether intentional or not he usually managed to briefly intimidate anyone he met for the first time. Admittedly in the past couple of days less and less people were put off by his appearance but he saw he affected this man.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

The new comer, to his credit, was already over the initial shock and in answer to the question adopted a smile although at the edges it seemed a bit like a smirk making Rude wonder if he was being sincere or maybe that was the man's way of being impressed. "This space taken?"

The man seemed pleasant so he makes room on the bench, the stranger sits down and as Rude expected carries on speaking, "Your the Rookie that did really well last night," He pauses and looks over at Rude who doesn't say anything but takes note of the man's bright, honey, brown eyes. "You had a round with the red haired guy didn't you?" The question was not rhetorical and Rude felt himself being forced to answer.

"Yes."

"I heard it was quite something."i The man says smiling at him but Rude doesn't think it quite reaches his eyes which are too busy gauging for his reaction.

"You weren't there?"

The stranger looks at him a little more intently as he replies, "I was implying that. I heard it went on quite a while but everyone managed to keep the executives _entertained_." The man quirks an eyebrow and Rude assumes from his manners so far the man must be a Turk. "And the nightshift have been buzzing about it ever since. They say you did extremely well for a rookie." At this point the man finally extents a hand out for Rude to shake, "Mind if I have a name to go with that reputation?"

Rude takes the hand firmly; his grip is much stronger than the stranger's who is late enforcing his hold. "Rude and you are?"

"Call me Macti," This time the grin does seem honest putting Rude somewhat at ease although he is sure he has heard the name mentioned before.

Slowly the man relaxes his hand and Rude does the same despite the relative good nature of the man there is a tangible air of caution between them. He can sense there is something Macti wishes to say but he is waiting for the right moment. Feeling benevolent he keeps up the conversation, "Have you been here long?"

"As in, _in_ here long or with ShinRa?"

"Both."

Macti smirks at his answer and looks away casually examining the gym, particularly at a couple sparring. "An hour, I'm waiting for someone to finish. I've been here a couple of years." He concludes.

"Long time."

Macti nodded thoughtfully a slight frown slowly forming on his brow, "With luck and the right choices you'll be here a long time to." He looks back at Rude again with the same careful glance he gave him before, evaluating the rookie's response.

"We're in the same department." It wasn't a question but Rude felt it was the time to confirm his assumption, knowing a little more about Macti would leave him feeling more satisfied when the conversation was over.

"Yes we are." Macti nods again, a single firm nod and the rookie senses the time for whatever the man wished to say was passing, more so when another man ends his routine on the mat and begins walking over to them.

"You had something to tell me?"

Again his abruptness is a surprise but Macti hesitates only for an instant the time needed to decide whether he wishes to voice his thoughts or not. He decides he will, "Yes, a warning." Immediately Rude becomes slightly more alert sensing a darkening in Macti's tone. A new kind of caution settles around them one which sends coldness across his skin, "Be careful around the redhead."

"Reno?"

He is even more confused when the man flinches at the name, _no_ he must have been mistaken he could have just blinked. The Man's friend is almost with them and Macti rushes out the rest, "Yes, he's a mutt for ShinRa. It doesn't do well to get too close to them, and it won't do well to get close to him." He stands, his friend has stopped a few paces from the bench and he goes to him composure brightening as if nothing is wrong, "It was nice meeting you Rude, I wish you a swift recovery."

Disturbed Rude watches the two men go, Macti's friend didn't even acknowledge him which he also thought was odd. No longer comfortable he waits a few seconds after they have left the gym before getting up and leaving as well. Again he attracts attention but it was no more than before. The corridors are busier; it was time for the changeover of staff. Blurry eyed night workers shuffle out as perkier day workers bustle in to take over the load. Automatically Rude found himself striding through the metallic corridors his footsteps ringing along with many others as they picked up the pace.

Looking at his watch he noted he still had a three more hours before he had to return to his room and from there go to some assembly point. Thinking it over he had two options. One leave the building and head into Midgar or two wander aimlessly in the garage again. He did not feel up to mixing with normal civilians, especially not in uniform. Taking a deep breath he headed for the garage.

He didn't know what he'd been expecting, he supposed after the 'talk' with Macti he'd got the bizarre hope the redhead would show up because he wanted him to, maybe even almost knock him over again as well. Of course that didn't happen but he did get a couple of close shaves though, as a range of vehicles drove in, many in various stages of disrepair as if they were coming back from some war zone. If he so happened to walk by where one of these parked occasionally the driver or other occupant would look up and- always smiling- explain the reason for the damage, usually one word seemed to sum it up, "demonstrators." A few looked like they'd been through the wastelands in which case their tired appearance needed no explanation.

Strolling though the rows of vehicles, taking in the Mako fumes swirling in the underground eased out the man's warning and Rude grew less troubled by it, only the strangeness that one Turk would warn against a college bothered him. Call him simple but he had expected just getting a partner and live day by day on whatever mission came up until he was called back into the Lifestream, obviously more would come with a Turk Lifestyle but he did not like the idea of internal complications or disputes. At least he had no intention of being dragged into any such things. Probably he'd been expecting the professional appearance demonstrated to them by the academy instructors to follow up into reality, he admitted such a mistake was naive. He had always stayed out of trivial squabbles and was determined to do so, nothing of any worth came of such petty behaviour but unfortunately the involvement or at least mention of Reno stroked his curiosity. He would not lie to himself; he did want to know why a man who seemed otherwise amiable was harbouring some hostility towards the youth. The tournament left him with a sense he'd crossed some sort of threshold without noticing, there was no going back and everything ahead was clear, like a new journal waiting for him to put pen to paper. But the transition from trainee to rookie seemed blurred. Honestly he had expected a pinnacle moment but it seemed the acceptance process was stretching out. The idle time was sapping his motivation especially after all the intense work and stress before last night, he felt he should be doing something. He felt restless.

He dawdled through the aisles of motorbikes guiltily trying to remember which one the redhead had been driving but he could not remember or it might not even have been there, if he was honest he had been paying more attention to the driver than the vehicle. He wasted near two hours in the basements but he reasoned he was now at least familiar with where most ground travelling vehicles were stationed even if he was still denied access to parts. His interest had been piqued whenever the little red light flashed at him but he quickly moved on, least he attracted guards. He supposed there was still much he had to look forward to, including –hopefully- having his own form of transportation or at least being allowed to ride something company made, no matter what people said ShinRa had the best equipment when it came to technology and usually horded the best people to work with it. So he hadn't really wasted two hours as he'd been browsing for which vehicles he would rather like taking the wheel in. He admired motorbikes, sleek and fast machines but he much preferred the stable and throbbing hum from within a car or truck. His taste was much like his build, power and strength over speed.

Rude was therefore glad he had taken a legitimate stroll through the garage especially when he only had to idle half an hour in his room before a knock on the door announced it was time. Eagerly he opened the door, only to be greeted by Kyo looking like a cat that just had its tail stepped on.

"Good, at least someone is ready!" The ginger haired man yelled so the whole corridor could hear, then added in a low and menacing way, "ya are ready right?"

In answer Rude stepped back revealing most of his spotless, bare room but most importantly his four boxes on the floor. It didn't improve Kyo's mood dramatically but at least he stopped giving him glare that seemed ready to melt stone. "Great, you better have packed your old uniforms and papers separately from the stuff you want to keep; we're not sorting through it when we get there!"Again he said this at full volume and Rude dare say he heard a sudden frantic amount of activity coming from the nearest rooms. He quirked a brow and the Turk smirked at him. "Least I warned them. So grab your stuff and let's go we don't have all day."

Doing as he was told he hurried behind the Turk striding through the corridors, going the same way Arisa had brought him. "The others?"

"Trent can handle them; he's more patient than I am anyway." Kyo shrugged, Rude liked how he'd just stated the obvious. "I want to talk to you anyways."

An ominous feeling crept into Rude's gut and his steps slowed ever so slightly. Kyo carried on regardless, "Everyone noticed you were getting pretty chummy with the Kid on the floor last night. I ain't got a problem with it but I'd advice you keep some distance until you know what you're getting into."

Strangely after the talk with Macti he had expected Kyo's 'advice' and it irked him for reasons he could not explain. He supposed it was mostly because of the sense he was being kept out of something and he didn't understand what or why. He must have let his annoyance show for the Turk asked, "You say something?"

"No," He replied evenly but with enough sharpness for Kyo to narrow his eyes at him.

"Ya got a lot to learn rookie, you're with the big boys now," He smirked reaching out and gracefully swiping the two boxes Rude had been balancing, it was so abrupt the rookie noticed the change in weight before his eyes registered the lack of boxes in front of him. "It's best to keep things simple for yourself."

"Wouldn't that be boring?"

Kyo laughed, "You'll get enough action without looking for it. Funny I wouldn't take you for a thrill seeker." The ginger haired man cocked his head as he looked back at him amusedly. "But then you were in the basements again this morning."

"Surveillance?"

"You rookies are still under the microscope," Kyo shrugged, manoeuvring the boxes in his arms around to free one hand as they approached the elevator , "It being the era of paranoia an all."

Rude was silent as the man summoned an elevator. He noticed Kyo had become less agitated now it was just the two of them and came to the conclusion crowds made him nervous which was probably the real reason he'd left Trent with everyone else. Rude noted the man's suit was probably the neatest he had seen it, although the top buttons were still undone everything else was clean and tidy, for once not looking like he'd just picked his clothes off the floor before putting then on in a hurry. His hair also looked cleaner. He wondered if he had earned the morning off after last night or there was another reason.

The lift arrived and they manoeuvred inside feeling snug with the boxes. "You haven't got a lot of stuff," Kyo commented.

"I have what I need."

"Resources are going to love you," The Turk smirked, amused probably by some 'in-joke 'but Rude noted the man's agitation return now they were in a confide space.

Against his better judgement he asked, "Claustraphobic?"

He was unsurprised when the man practically spat at him from across the lift, "O-of Course NOT! I'm not anything –aphobic." Obvious the Turk was lying but Rude nodded calmly as if he believed him. However the man didn't settle down, if anything he grew more fidgety. When the doors opened on their floor he burst out, startling the receptionists and somehow knocking over one of the potted plants. Rude sighed, shoulders sagging for an instant before he stepped out ignoring the confused bystanders although he did have the courtesy to right the plant, after seeing so many metallic floors he appreciated the effort on the couple which tried to be more warm and welcoming.

Unexpectedly they by-passed the beech door, continuing through to rows of office cubicles which Rude, when he could, glimpsed fleetingly the early morning rituals of those within. He noted this was possibly the most normal part of the building which now he knew the place a little better made it odd. Still there were other floors, most the ones which conducted business related to the general public. That fact was unsurprising, it made a lot of sense although the designer had made sure that though everything was a couple of watts brighter and the dominant grey, blue and greens hues which characterised most of the building (and most of the city as a whole if he was honest) where toned down by the introduction of warmer yellows, reds or simply whites and creams yet one didn't have to look far to see glass and metal. He'd heard that at one time the building had not been so; aside from basic layout it had been pretty monotonous. Thankfully the demand to reconstruct parts to advance their technology and accommodate the advancing size of the company had along the way allowed some creativity to come in, simply plants at first (which were in themselves quite a novelty for most people living in a city in the wastelands) and it had gone from there. Now most floors had their own feel, their own atmosphere making it obvious which level an accustomed personal was on simply by the subtly change in light, or a certain associated smell. This particular floor, as he noted before was among the ones that had taken things furthest from its bare beginnings. The staff weren't full of Duchene smiles – not like the ones downstairs, they wouldn't know what a real smile looked like – and the air smelled strongly of cool water, coffee and delicately of flora perfume mainly because hardly any men worked on this floor. Intended or not the effect drew you in, after the shadowed streets under the almost permanently cloudy sky, and the comparatively cold and professional lobby with its security monitored entrance to have the elevator stop at such a bright and relaxing setting had the deceptive quality of being far removed from Midgar.

Kyo didn't spare the environment much of a glance as he stormed through, actually cringing against the perfume of one female employee who got too close. For some reason he found this amusing rather than alarming, he only became concerned when Kyo rammed his boxes into a door as a means to open it instead of bothering to free an arm or use his leg to kick it open. Kyo just so happened to have the box which had his personal- breakable- items in. Pointedly at the next set of doors he quickly reached over the man and pushed the door open, Kyo was not impressed, still he said "Thanks".

They went a few paces, turned a corner and through two sets of double doors, the first where wooden and swung but the second were heavy metal with painted numbers, swiping key card access and all. The abrupt change was unsettling as was the doors lumbering clang as they pulled apart and a blast of cool air wafted over them. In comparison Kyo relaxed and practically strolled down the steps into the darkness, the sound of the echo told Rude the room was small and completely metallic.

"Special delivery," The ginger haired cooed into the blackness. When he reached the bottom the lights blinked on revealing for an instant Rude had been right, then the space filled with the hum of sleepy electronics waking up and the lights slowly returned to life. As the rookie followed the light gradually grew in intensity, from a musty orange that reminded Rude of downtown Midgar to a harsh lighting which made him glad to be wearing shades again.

Across the small room was a long metal bench, nothing underneath it, nothing above either but beyond it was a door shaped hole exactly in the middle of the metallic wall, beyond that they seemed to be another metal wall. It was from here the head appeared. Summoned by Kyo's voice the rest of the man soon followed squinting unpleasantly at them before fixing the Turk with a particularly suspicious glare, "Well, where are the rest?"

"My partner's bringing them," Kyo drawled beckoning Rude forward. The man looked derisively down his nose at Kyo before leaving again. He came back with a hand held, touch screen device, "Suppose I should be expecting an influx anytime soon then."

"Sorry mate," The Turk said not sounding the least bit sorry, "Trent will make sure they've got their stuff sorted before coming."

"They always say that," The man muttered under his breathed, pointing for them to place the boxes on the bench.

"You know we _live_ to make your _hard_ life easier." Kyo said far too cheerfully earning another annoyed look from the man who had taken to inspecting the inside of the boxes, putting to one side the ones not containing company property or paper work, he proceeded to go through _those_ carefully, ticking things off on his electronic device.

Kyo stepped back and tapped his foot on the floor- again it seemed just to irritate the unnamed man- while Rude watched the process keenly. Obviously the man was checking everything was there but Rude noticed he seemed to handle the documents almost fugitively and only used the pen in his hand to move the contents about. He got the sense that despite Kyo seemingly looking bored at the floor he actually had his eyes on the man the whole time. Whatever this man's job was it was low on the food chain.

"Everything is in order," He said at last, pulling all the boxes a little closer to himself. He paused to pull out a handkerchief and pat his balding forehead.

"Great, thought we'd start you off gently," The Turk smirked, "It's a big haul this time might want to call on your other hands hidden back there." Another scowl was the response and the man pulled out some labels which he proceeded to tag the boxes. They stuck around long enough to watch him stack them and balancing the lot withdraw to wherever he had come from. "He won't be back, let's go."

Rude followed Kyo out, wondering where they were going next and hoping it was to the lounge area. He wouldn't mind some familiar surroundings now he was starting to get disorientated following the ginger haired man. It wasn't to be. Going back through the double set of double doors Kyo turned away from the direction they had come. A little while later they stopped at what appeared to be a dead end. The Turk inserted his card into a barely visible slit between two metal panels. A panel in front of them slide to the side. They went through into a unlit corridor. As in the room before it took a while for the lights to come on, but these were simply strips along the floor lighting the way along the passage, to the next doorway and so on. Despite the close darkness above them the circulation of air was good enough to give the impression where they were walking was lofty. The temperature had fallen even more than it had in the other room for the air running over them was, fast, cold and fresh. Kyo's hair blew behind him and the Turk wisely donned his gloves for it only got steadily chillier as they went along. Apart from their echoing footsteps the passages were silent and it took Rude a long time to work out what they were walking on were actually suspended walkways within the main body of the buildings massive ventilation system. Well most of the time anyway as new passages and turns tended to result in a different sound under the beat of their feet. It was the only way Rude could guess at the change, otherwise the world had become black and two strips of light.

It wasn't in his nature to break silences but after some minutes of blind following he had to know what was going on. "Where-"

"You need a suit for tonight; I'm taking you to a tailor. Heh bet ya didn't think Midgar had anything like that did you?" Kyo cut him off and anticipating what Rude was going to ask next continued, "The others will go as well but with twenty odd of you people will have to go to different places. Of course the girl's dresses have been pre-prepared."

"Why must we go out?"

"Normally we don't but everything has been running behind schedule not to mention last time someone tried to infiltrate the building pretending to be a tailor or something. Luckily the rookie at the time was competent enough to nullify the situation before it got concerning. So til Reeve's sorts out this new security system- again we had problem and a certain someone's inventive 'fixing' _short circuited_ everything the foreign equipment was attached to, it got rid of the problem but caused a mess, - Anyway the temporary programs are more than enough to keep most at bay but the President is jittery about the odd determined ones we get and so would rather we minimise entrance into the building."

"What about last night?"

"You crazy, only someone suicidal would have tried anything then. Last night was probably the safest the president has been out in public." Kyo sharp tone suggested Rude's unknowing stupidity had annoyed him with his. So he felt it best to say no more.

Eventually they hit concrete, and the slightly dusty smell of the passages they'd been through was replaced by the more welcome odour of petrol fumes. Rude had to wonder why they hadn't taken an elevator to the basement but kept it to himself. They carried on in darkness for sometime but Rude could see distinctly up ahead the rest of the grey corridor which was lit. Crossing the threshold from light to dark gave him an unexpected elated sensation, but he shrugged it off noticing that wherever they were it must be behind one of the doors he'd been denied access that morning. They went through another door way and turned right into a passage that stretched out, it was wide enough that steel pillars had been erected in the middle to hold the weight. As they walked he realised the petrol fumes were coming from above and they had in fact left the ShinRa building some time ago, now they were walking under its streets. The metal pavement they were now walking on was slick with water dripping continuously from pipes that really could do with fixing and he didn't want to know what the green, algae or fungus was that spilled from cracks like ooze. He expected the inevitability of them ending up in the sewers; however Kyo surprised him by stopping at a ladder and climbing up. Wordlessly Rude followed. It was quite a climb making Rude understand they'd been at least partly travelling under the sewers. He wondered how Kyo knew where he was going for although the passage had been reasonably well lit and quite modern there had been no directions or any form of helpful information by which they could use for guidance- most likely in case terrorists found the passages.

Reaching the top he had to wait while Kyo removed a manhole cover before leaping out, Rude followed quickly and helped put the covering back into place. They stood in an alley and from the neat layout Rude assumed they were in one of the more respectable areas of town, close to sector 8 probably.

"Crap," Kyo cursed, looking down at himself. Rude tried to see if he'd got some filth on his clean suit but despite all the opportunities there didn't seem to be anything noticeable, "I forgot to change."

After a moments deliberation he started shredding layers, first the jacket then he undid his shirt revealing a blue vest. He left those two garments on but he did take his pants off, going over to a nearby dumpster and pulled a box from under it. From the disgusting box he pulled out a pair of equally grubby pants looking triumphant saying something to himself which Rude didn't catch. He put the pants on and looked at the rookie still standing there, instantly his expression soured, "Oi, you just going to stand there? Sort yourself out."

Perplexed Rude looked about himself shifting on the spot vaguely wondering if he was supposed to find a hidden box as well. Kyo groaned loudly and strode over, automatically Rude backed away raising an arm defensively. Kyo lashed out regardless wrenching his tie with one hand and pulling at his jacket with the other, "Get the point."

Rude resisted on principle and Kyo let him go roughly, "look just get rid of the tie and Jacket and unbutton the shirt." Seeing the rookie's expression he gave him another rough shove in the shoulder, "It won't kill you, we're wasting time."

Complying reluctantly he undid his tie and folded his Jacket neatly. He couldn't quite bring himself to un-tuck his shirt but he did undo the top button. Rolling his eyes at him Kyo indicated for him to put his garments into the box where he'd also put his pants and walked out of the alley. Rude had to hurry to maintain pace with the man. The streets were full, people of every walk of life merged together enticed by the exchange of goods, food and money. Beggars and unmistakable low lives hung around corners looking like buzzards awaiting easy pickings, children clung to their oblivious mothers so focused on what they had come out to do they could have been in another world. MPs walked calmly amongst the civilians, causing those that looked like they didn't belong in the sector to wither back momentarily and drawing the admiring eye of bored children and youths. Rude now questioned why they had to dress down if this was a clearly ShinRa 'friendly' area as most of the top plates where. The answer became clear enough when they left the high streets and plunged into the alley ways. Still there was something about them which caused most people to step back out of their way, yet Rude still felt exposed and despite the warmth coming from the piping running on the outside of the buildings shivers ran up and down his spine.

Kyo stopped at the bottom of a rusting fire escape, the bottom of the ladder was quite high up but the Turk was undaunted. He assessed the distance then stepped back a couple of paces for a run up. Rude got out of the way and smiled when the Turk hit the ladder rather ungracefully, the man clambered up with minimal grumbling though and the rookie wasn't going to complain when he undid a latch at the top which brought the ladder down to a more accessible level for him. Testing its stability he decided it could take his weight and climbed. The oxidised metal grumbled unpleasantly under his large hands and the rungs seemed dangerously thin making him proceed with extra caution but Kyo was already a platform ahead of him. _Really_, he thought, _there had to be an easier way to get a new suit_. This new rigmarole was for the extravagant meal they had to attend for business purposes, thus some level of secrecy was warranted but he wondered what was wrong with the front door when Kyo stopped four floors up and rapped on the window.

He was still at it by the time Rude came to crouch next to him. Giving the persistent Turk a single glance he examined the lighted room beyond the glass. It looked like a typical tailor's shop, racks of suits and dresses, measuring tape spilling on the floor and those infamous three tall mirrors and stool next to a little curtained area. Shifting he tried to see the rest of the room noting that though it was cluttered with clothes and fabric, including a work station where quick alterations were probably conducted, it was devoid of human life. A cat snoozing on a clump of soft looking fabric was the only living creature and Rude had a feeling it wasn't going to open the window anytime soon.

"Is anyone else coming?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kyo huffed pausing in his knocking to rub his knuckles, "and before you go there we are expected."

Just that moment a squeal of surprise, loud enough to be heard though the window, called their attention back to the room to see a woman fling rolls of dark fabric into the air and run. The Turks had enough time to share another look before they caught sight of a short man bustling across the room. They shifted back when the man flung the small windows open.

"Gentlemen," He said with a degree of pleasure and excitement that Rude wasn't used to hearing, "I apologise I had no idea, you are early." He looked at Rude, "Welcome sir, I don't believe we have met but don't worry I have your order ready in the back and I can already say it will look wonderful on a strapping man like yourself." The tailor- for Rude presumed he had to be- thrust his arm out keenly and the rookie had no option but to take it, trying to be gentle for the man's hands felt incredibly delicate and bony, his skin was rough like old parchment an indicator of many years of work. "Hmm, a good firm grip," the man commented to himself releasing Rude and turning to Kyo, "Just one?"

" No the others will be by later," The ginger haired man responded wandering over to some casual looking suits, for a moment the Tailors eyes lit up, appreciating the interest but then he remembered he had Rude to attend to.

"This way sir," He indicated to the curtained room, drawing the thick red fabric aside and bowing with alien eloquence. Rude swore he saw Kyo smirking in his general direction and tried to relax but was finding it difficult, even more so when the curtain was drawn behind him and he was left in the small space with barely enough room to turn around. He remained where he stood, listening to the tailor call for his assistant who sounded as if she could be his daughter. He was just asking her to get some suits, listing the required measurements and from her replies Rude got the impression she would be some time about it. Heaving a sigh to himself he let his mind wonder. Naturally it went straight for the topic which had bothered him all the way here; there was more of Kyo's 'talk' yet to come. After observing the man the whole way it was clear something was on the Turks mind which seemed to be making him more agitated than usual. Probably he'd been ordered, unlikely by Tseng but evidently by a superior to inform Rude of something, whether the first part concerning Reno was part of that or not he couldn't tell yet but as long it was just him and Kyo he knew neither would be comfortable until what had to be said was said. The question was why was Kyo dawdling? The walk here should have provided amble opportunity for a private conversation.

He almost jumped when the curtains unexpectedly burst open behind him and the tailor squealed, "Why aren't you undressed? Precious time is running away from us! Come on sir, quick, quick!" The man was practically jumping as he spoke brandishing a labouring hanger from which hung his outfit for the evening in its protective material case.

Without a word he took it from the man and closed the curtain. He had seen the Turk definitely smirking behind the panicking tailor's head and easily heard the derisive comment about his prudishness. He pulled the zipper on the material case harder than he meant to and almost broke the small piece of metal. He inspected the tuxedo within. It was black. Comparing it to his pants the hue was a sharper and deeper shade, the material felt smooth and silky and he knew it would compliment his complexion handsomely. It was clear then that whoever had picked out their outfits had done so with much consideration and this evening was going to be a glamorous affair indeed. He would have groaned if he was sure Kyo couldn't hear but he was positive he could so suppressed the urge. The bowtie and waistcoat were of the same material and the simple white shirt was unadorned but soft. Taking the assemble as a whole the outfit was simple yet sharp and he decided he liked it. After taking in the appearance he quickly searched for the expected hidden pockets, noting the wires hooked into the bow tie and places where Materia could be stores inconspicuously in the lining and sleeves. As he finally got around to putting the clothes on he revelled momentarily as the shirt caressed his skin feeling like cream was flowing over him. So many years with just the basics such plain luxury was worth savouring. He also noted a couple of extra pockets in the light trousers. The waistcoat was the only heavy item, a cleverly disguised bullet proof vest and it was wired to a heat sensor within it and an emergency communicator. He found nine small cartridges concealed under what looked like the left breast, he took note of their labels. The top three read (HC) these were grey, the three below (CSA) were blue and the final three were yellow and labelled (FM) accordingly. He immediately checked the right pocket which was real but inside where three red cartridges labelled (WP). He didn't touch these ones.

"Oi Princess you done in there or what?" Kyo yelled but from his tone of voice he was more amused than irritated.

In reply Rude drew back the curtain and stepped out. The Turk took one look at him and nodded with a smug grin, he knew Rude had been examining the suit, while the tailor's daughter shyly cooed over how the tux suited him. The only one who wasn't happy was the tailor. He stamped his foot like a child having a tantrum and muttered to himself as he pushed Rude towards the mirrors and directed him onto the stool. He then proceeded to hurry off allowing Rude to cast Kyo- who still appeared quite entertained- a confused glance. The tailor appeared again from behind a rack of jackets wrapped in plastic with a ladder in his hands, a tape measure in his mouth, and balancing a sewing box in the crook of his arm. He delicately lowered the ladder right next Rude and clambered up. Rude could see Kyo was battling against a fit of laughter and the daughter was blushing profusely but she smiled reassuringly up at him. Focusing on them made it easier to accept the tailor tucking at his collar and rearranging the suit, smoothing it out here and there. He moved Rude around like a Mannequin absorbed in making everything meet his degree of perfection. At last he said, "It will have to do. Mia bring the shoes and you'll be all set."

Rude frowned and looked at Kyo, "We're being picked up here, makes sense rather than have a load of cars leave HQ all at once; the Limo is circling the plate as we speak. They haven't reported anything suspicious so it looks promising for a quiet night." The ginger haired man informed him with a shrug.

Just as he finished speaking there was a knock on the door. "That'll be the others," Mia said and scampered off. The Tailor smiled tiredly getting down from the ladder and putting it to one side. Moments later the noise of a group of people making their way through racks of clothes announced the arrival of the other rookies, they appeared around the corner soon after. There was a pause as Rude assessed who was present as likewise they took in his attire. The pause was broken when a new comer wolf whistled and Rude could firmly say that person was John. They were all wearing varying degrees of bizarre clothes it took him a little longer to figure out one was Shady and the slightly shorter man as Kito. He stepped down from the stool and nodded to them.

"Talkative as ever," John smiled, removing the hat which had concealed most of his hair and the old, tattered scarf which had concealed much of his lower face. He looked like he had just come from one of the lowest sectors. Shady the vainest rookie, well besides Marko, had tried to spruce up his casual disguise -somewhat simple jeans and black shirt – with a couple of rings and chains on his person and his hair was similarly hidden like John's but under a classy Fedora. The tall collar on his long coat served to conceal most of his face without raising too much suspicion, he could blend in with all the other married men taking an evening visit to the Honey Bee Inn. Kito just wore sunglasses and an overgrown, faded black sweater over a shirt and slacks. Rude noticed Mia take a few more glances towards Kito than the other two, probably finding his cool demeanour alluring, Rude heard somewhere women found that kind of thing attractive.

Kito lifted his shades and rested them on his head before speaking, "We would have arrived sooner but we were told to arrive together although we journeyed separately." Rude caught John's slightly nervous shift and the almost accusing flicker in the glance the other two gave him. The tailor missed this completely simply happy they were here at last.

"No never mind that," He said wafting at the air as if to bat the words away, "Mia sort this gentlemen out with his footwear while I locate these gentlemen's garments." He started walking before he finished speaking but it wasn't until the tailor was out of sight did the others begin taking off more of their additional attire and try and look round for places to put them out of the way. Mia came forward immediately and took his arm to lead him to another part of the shop. When he passed John he couldn't resist saying "You got lost."

A nervous laugh was all the reply Rude received before the tailor returned and he was taken behind what seemed like shelves stacked and draped with fabric. The girl headed straight for a wooden door at the end, silently indicating for him to wait outside. It didn't taken her long to find the shoes and socks to match. Carefully he took his own off and exchanged them for the new and obviously more expensive pair. He wasn't comfortable with Mia watching nor did he like the way she dived right in as soon as he straightened to 'fix' the trouser legs to the exact length. He decided she'd picked up some picky habits from her father.

They went back to the rest; John was on the stool while Kito and Shady stood next to Kyo. Rude went to join them just as Mia beckoned Shady into the changing room. Kito sighed heavily when the man left them and shifted on his feet, Rude sensed his impatience but didn't comment on it. Instead he looked at Kyo who was watching Kito in a bored yet smug manner, slouched against a pile of dresses as he sat on the windowsill. Feeling eyes on him the Turk glanced up at Rude over Kito's head. "So I take it you found all the goodies hidden in there then."

Rude nodded.

"Good saves me explaining that much, I take it they covered how to use most of it in the academy. For the bowtie you just press the knot, pretty simple, just try and not fiddle with it during the evening otherwise your chit-chat will be broadcast to the nights surveillance team. Don't remove the waistcoat no matter what and those smokescreens are in emergency circumstances only, unless you _want _to put the boss' quests in quarantine or the infirmary."

"They're just there as a precaution right? I mean it's unusual for these party things to be targeted." John butted in as he wandered over to them, looking clean and smart with his hair combed back, his waves looking lush and attractive. Perhaps Marko hadn't taken all the best genes after all.

"Inside yeah, on the way that's the dangerous part." Kyo nodded, "All the limos you'll be taking are decoys and you'll blend in with the other guests for similar reasons. The President has been in the building where it's being held all day, security is tight but it's mostly those that went through a less formal induction than yours so it's almost everyone's biggest operation yet. Normally the numbers would be balanced with the policing and military forces but circumstances as they are they've gone with just the Turks this year."

"Is that the reason for so many?" Kito inquired.

"Afraid so, if they weren't so intent on appearances some of you wouldn't have made the cut." Kyo replied.

John gulped then asked, "How big is this building anyway that we need trackers?"

"Ever seen the Il regno di cristallo?"

"No," John said expression contorting in confusion.

Kyo rolled his eyes, "Just think of the theatre in Loveless Avenue just more windows, grander and pale. It's about a quarter of the height as HQ and has huge steps leading to the entrance. The Walls are thick for security and aside from the huge dining hall or ball room it's a Hotel. The President rents the whole thing for this evening so most of the rooms are set up with surveillance and the party stays on the low levels. I'll give you a proper briefing in the limo; to be honest it's just watching rich people have a good time until the change over at midnight."

"Change over?"

"Yeah, for the ones that served as entertainment and had those nasty initiation assignments you get a ceremony for when you're assigned your partners."

"I thought everyone got similar assignments." John was getting more and more confused; lucky for the others he would ask the questions as they were curious as well.

"Well those who go the other way traditionally just patrol sector 8."

"Those lucky-"

"Yeah but you get promoted a little faster this way." Kyo cut John off smirking. Mia came over to ask Kito to enter the changing room. He went silently and Rude stepped to fill the space he'd been in while John took up his other side so now Rude stood in the middle. They waited for Shady to join them, Rude was getting the impression Mia had some sort of hair grooming skills for the man's stylized hair was back to its usual immaculate condition. He smiled easily at the three settling near John.

"Did this guy work for ShinRa in the past?" Shady asked nodding slightly towards the tailor. Like his mannerisms his speech was smooth and casual. Whoever designed his suit took this into account, like Kyo he wore his normal Turk suit without the top buttons done up, therefore his tux didn't have a bowtie but his jacket had a breast pocket with a decorative red piece of material sticking out, Rude supposed that would work the same way.

The Turk took his time before answering and when he spoke Rude could tell he didn't know the answer for sure, "He has supported the company for long enough that he's trusted. Maybe has some family connections."

"You don't know?" Again Shady's mild was unoffending, his whole air was calmly inviting people to like him.

Kyo smiled, "You're the ex-con artist aren't ya? Heard you built up a plump bank account mind if I ask the reasons for the career change?"

Shady's smile didn't falter once even when the other two rookies surprised attention became solely focused awaiting the answer, "Well let's just say I'd live a better life working for ShinRa, besides it's much more entertaining."

"You're the guy Placide uncovered conning the mayor," Kyo asked leaning in, his grin becoming almost predatory but Shady did well to stay calm. "You owe her your life."

"I do, I do," Shady replied elegant wistfulness entering his voice, "Ah what a woman... she inspired me to give my talents to his company."

"Yeah saying that does sound better than being blackmailed into it," Kyo added thoughtfully with a smirk. Although he seemed to think Shady was trying to put some sort of honour into his decision when there was none Rude believed there was some matters of the heart that had influenced the con artist. If he had so much money than bribing his way out of prison wasn't unheard of. Whatever Shady's and this other Turks back story was it must run deep, even now the rookie's smile quivered as he remembered something enjoyable of his past. "Still it took her long enough to expose you it was a good call on her part to recruit ya."

"_Ah,"_ Shady responded politely but his mind was going through other things and he said no more.

Strangely Rude thought he would dislike knowing a colleague was a con-artist by nature yet he actually found himself viewing the man with increased admiration and felt better knowing the reason for the charming charisma surrounding the man in everything he did. Shady had trained himself to be enticing but there must be cunning to match it, he hadn't quite thought of it while he'd been fighting the man but his best skills were probably not in combat. Then Shady looked down at John before looking back at Kyo and said, "At the very least I have experience in killing to keep wanted silence."

"Hmm, hopefully you've learnt to be a little less reckless about that otherwise you won't be around for very long."

Shady laughed lightly, "Ah yes I have learnt my lesson I shall leave explosives to others like Tick. But tonight should be quiet, no?"

Kyo nodded, "Yeah keep yourself busy sweet talking the singles, I think the President would appreciate that."

Rude and John were beginning to feel out of place. Rude was aware from the way Kyo was leering the Turk was after something and Shady was doing his upmost to remain unaffected by it like some sort of test of wills. From the little he had observed of the ginger haired man it must be a habit of his to look for a challenge of some sort, Rude was thankful the Turk had so far left him alone.

Eventually Kito returned to them looking trim in a simple midnight-blue, evening suit and tie. It didn't look too dissimilar from the normal uniform except the material was obviously darker and of a more luxurious quality, the jacket was buttoned and the pants didn't look like they were for someone two sizes bigger. A small white silken scarf was wrapped casually around his neck like a bookstore connoisseur which balanced out the midnight hue hat settled stylishly on his head. Although Kito's expression remained serious Rude sensed his unease in the costume, certainly what they were wearing probably cost more than they would be seeing on their pay checks for a few years...or maybe never. Either way the overall effect was eye catching but gave Kito an unfortunate delicate air again that probably wasn't a look Kito wanted to sport. It couldn't be helped he supposed.

As soon as they were all set they bundled themselves down to the front door. This required the difficult task of finding their way out of the room. Even the tailor had trouble locating the escape, at first leading them to another closet of buttons or fasteners. At that point a minor feeling of despair settled around the rookies, dreading the prospect of being late because they couldn't find the door in the little shop. Mia, however, quickly came to their rescue calling them from across the room where Kyo stood next to her talking into his PHS. Door found they just had to wade their way over.

Slightly more flushed the rookies carefully treaded down the narrow and surprisingly dingy stair case; the sort one would expect lead to the attic in a haunted mansion in a child's ghost story. At least the delay meant the limo was waiting for them as soon as they stepped out. A quiet and 'clean' evening hung over the street, so different from the lively activity barely a couple of hours previous. Far away the cities distinctive song drifted close by, Rude thought it strange. The surrounding buildings were too tall to see around but the very tip of the unmistakeable ShinRa tower could be spotted peeking behind a couple of chimneys. They must on the very outskirts he thought, before he got into the luxury car. It was a bit of a squish though for it was already occupied.

"Delightful frills Lithia, would you mind getting them out of my face."

"Shut up punk, and get your head out of there unless you want to be choking on them."

It took a moment for Rude to adjust to the dark interior of the car packed with so many faces; it took him just as long to figure out the bickering duo were Lithia and Shady. Kito let out a weary sigh beside him and slouched into his seat. Rude presumed the smaller man knew something he didn't but the conflict was quickly settled after an unflattering comment resulted in a three inch heel between Shady's legs from the woman sitting opposite him. Needless to say the man's following words were best not repeating. Kyo sniggered from the front passenger seat.

"You totally deserved that."

Whatever Shady's reply was it was barely audible due to the strange pitch his voice had taken and the resulting laughter from everyone else. Rude identified the other four people sharing the ride to the party. Hana was sitting right next to Lithia; her dress was much less controversial than Lithia's deep maroon, meringue looking one. The bunched and curled material matched beautifully with Lithia's waved and curved hair but the extravagant flounce served only to aggravate the woman and those around her. In contrast Hana's was simpler and black, fitting her chest complimentarily and flowing like a silken waterfall down the rest of her petit body. That was as much as Rude make out anyway around the puff of Lithia's skirt. He was sure they'd both would look lovely when they got out of the car.

Beyond them Tick sat poker faced looking out of the tinted window, small squares of greenish light zipped across his face, actually everyone's faces but those closest to the windows the transition was much more dramatic. Opposite him and practically out of Rude view Manube was fiddling with his top hat. Straining slightly Rude tried to get a better look at the small blonde man's outfit trying to confirm if he had actually seen the lace sleeves and frilly cravat. He had. Catching John's eye who was sitting opposite him and had a much better view around Lithia's dress they exchanged subtle looks of horror, both grateful they'd got a much better tailor. At least Tick and Hana had been spared Lolita tastes although Tick also sported a top hat, white bow tie and white gloves which came across as both classy and theatrical. Up front Trent was as acting chauffer.

The scent of different colognes, deodorant and flowery perfume was strong, strong enough to overpower the leather upholstery (which was saying something). The crammed conditions and saturated warm air made everything that little bit worse for those already on edge. Opening a window would be a great relieve but it would waste the expense of the bullet proof glass.

"May I ask if there is any chance of some air conditioning back here?" Shady finally asked hand hovering over the handkerchief in his front pocket debating whether to use it to wipe his brow or not.

"More importantly you said you'd explain a few more things about this evening," Tick added with a hint of impatience in his otherwise controlled voice.

Immediately a continuous blast of cold air struck them all in the face. "Thank you," Shady said a little sarcastically swiping his fringe out of his eyes. The pressure of the icy wind decreased to a more pleasant level, Rude saw Trent taking his hand from the switch and shoot Kyo a look while the other Turk crossed his arms and grumbled before twisting to look back at them all. His expression noticeably brightened seeing the majority of sulky faces in the back seats.

"Alright about tonight, it's a simple tying up ceremony. Just another chance for the President to flash his gil and remind everyone their good life is thanks to him. Lazard has a nice protective coating of military forces setting up a perimeter on the outside and there's the standard robotic security so the chances of an actual threat are mmmh," He scrunched up his face and rocked his hand in a 'maybe but unlikely' gesture. "Still there's the odd lose ball that could sneak in and if anyone is hardcore enough to get t_hrough_ the outside security then at least you'll be on hand to organise an evacuation, protect the president etc. Etc. Etc."

"Kyo," Trent moaned tiredly, handling messy business of handing in the nineteen rookies' belongings by himself had strained him to the last nerve, he didn't want to have to bother with amending his partner's instructions. "Give the brief properly, please."

"What? They should know all this." Kyo snapped at the driver before turning back to them, "After a couple of months we'll hardly have to bother with these tedious briefings and orders 'cas you'll just know. Well unless it's complicated or updates in the intelligence. Most of ya probably already got a feel for this stuff. So long as you use your intuition you'll be fine, which you should do since that's why you're in this department."

Everyone nodded at this, some less sure than others. Kyo smiled smugly and said, "See no complaints. Anyway you'll be pleased to know your shift ends at midnight and you'll be free to enjoy the party while we- a.k.a us pros- pick up the slack but if you do see someone suspect or want to pursue something then by all means, just keep intel informed. You do know where all your communicators and such are located, right?"

Another round of nods, again some less sure than others.

"Great. At one you need to go to the reception hall. It's a room reserved for nuptials, which we all find hilarious." He stopped to stifle some laughter and even Trent was moved to a smile, "Aha, yeah. You'll get it."

"Is that where we'll be assigned partners?" Kito asked.

"Yep," Kyo replied far too cheerily, "At the altar." He didn't bother to stifle the cackle and rocked back in his seat. He was soon joined by Trent, whose deep, rumbling chuckle was a fitting background to his partner slightly higher pitched, fitful howls and barks of mirth. The rookies were less amused, especially Lithia who was still miffed about being a spectacle last night, being the subject of someone's joke was just pushing her further from a reasonable temper. Aware of the woman's mounting volatility Kito subtly snaked his hand around hers that were keeping her skirts down and gave it a light squeeze. She looked down at him and he cast her a warning in his serious gaze.

"Is that normal?" Shady asked sceptically.

"Infrit _no_! Don't worry their ain't no vows or nothing, just seems for once the higher ups have a sense of humour."

"I heard Rufus picked the venue." Trent added helpfully.

"Rufus? As in _Rufus ShinRa_, the _President's_ son?" John asked unbelieving, shifting in his seat so as to converse better.

Kyo replied sarcastically, "With a surname like that who else would it be?"

"I heard he is a real impatient, callous kid." Manube piped in, his voice was comparatively very soft compared to Kyo's harsher tone giving the impression of tentativeness.

"He is," The Turks responded bluntly and in unison.

"Spoilt, cocky and ambitious." Kyo continued flicking his hand offhandedly with a snobbish flair.

Trent added, "But then if you knew him better it'd probably be understandable. He _is _attracted to power though and enjoys using it so as a warning try and avoid his games and the easiest way to do that is to avoid him if possible."

"Saves ya a headache. He'll be around tonight so watch out. The brat can give us a bit of grief just to spite his father but on these occasions he tends to behave."

They approached a fork in the road and took a right, into the construction works of the unfinished sector six. Hardly the foundations had been put down; apparently the head of urban development was having some difficulty designing the sector and with more resources going into the war and science, he was having difficulty funding it as well. At least the sudden break in tall buildings and lights gave a clear view of the ShinRa tower, now much bigger and brighter. Its tall, powerful frame was cloaked in the sickly green glow which stroked the horizon stretching into the black expanse.

"Veld suspects when he gets older he could be more trouble so we tend to try and monitor him but he can be quite slippery even for us."

Kyo nodded, "Uh huh, he's a prime kidnap target and despite all the training Tseng's given him he still manages to get into predicaments. It's a real hassle because he's the only l_egitimate_ heir."

"If the Boss had any consideration he could have tried to a few more to make our lives easier." Trent commented without thinking.

"What? You would have treated them as _expendable_," John cried shocked, whipping his head round fully and nearly colliding with Kyo, who jerked back just in time. Others were similarly appalled although Rude was simply curious as to why they would think that. Kito and Tick were also accepting this with complacence.

"_No_ -but it'd be reassuring to know there could be a back up if something went wrong." Kyo sighed.

This time Trent nodded, "Don't get us wrong, after a while I suppose our work distorts our views somewhat but perhaps you'll understand us after working under Rufus for a while. He's still a teenager, a demanding, bossy one. You technically have authority over him but it won't feel like it."

"He mightn't be so cocky or get away with half as much if his father had another heir to threaten him with- Urgh why aren't we there already? I hate this political talk." Kyo groaned, abruptly turning around round to face the front and kick the dash board childishly. "I don't think this detour was that necessary? A limo cruising around here is going to draw attention."

"I didn't set the routes, that bearded man that buzzes around the public safety department set them." Trent grumbled rubbing his temple.

"Heideggar?" Kyo asked snorting dismissively, "He probably didn't have anything better to do. Just go straight there."

Agreeing Trent took a sharp turn and started speeding towards sector 4, racing a train on the tracks. "Want to finish that briefing? Like were all the rooms are."

"Suppose but I bet they won't need to know most of them."

"Now let's be thorough," Trent chided before giving the road his complete attention.

"Fine, fine. Well since it's Turk only on the inside of the perimeter quite a few of the guest rooms have been filled with our monitoring equipment, we had to scrub the place for bombs and taps for the past two days mind. Anyway you shouldn't have to go up the stairs for any reason and some of you will be stationed at the stairs and entrances to prevent others using them, try be polite no matter how pushy they get. If they get too determined something is up and you inform us, follow and if possible neutralise without causing a scene. It's all about image tonight."

"How am I supposed to Neutralise anyone in this_ abomination?" _Lithia growled gesturing with a revolted wrist flick at her gown.

"I don't think you have to worry about that lady, no one is going to get around you in the first place." If the vibrant flush heating Lithia's cheeks at that moment was anything to go by, Kyo was very lucky he was a Senior and sitting in the front seat. Kito again had to discreetly calm her down but Lithia did not stop shooting daggers with her eyes at Kyo as he continued giving them the brief the rest of the way there.

It was possibly the messiest report they'd had to date. Kyo was simply recalling the parts he considered important in no particular order with constant interjections from Trent which sometimes contradicted what his partner had just told them. However piecing the information together Rude gathered himself, Shady and Hana would be some of the few who could move freely amongst the guests and who, if necessary could transverse to the upper levels of the hotel. He wasn't particularly flattered to know he wasn't given a stationary job as he looked too much like a night club bouncer. John was on stair guarding duty.

"Typical it's the left wing stair case when the buffet is closer to the right." John muttered darkly when they were out of the Limo and everyone was pairing up to walk the long green carpet which decorated the Il regno di cristallo's white marble staircase. Apparently the president had funded the finest rocks to be transported across two continents just for this building's construction and it was known for its modern spa facilities for those rich enough to use them. Kyo and Trent stayed in the Limo and only hung around long enough to ensure the rookies were far enough along the carpet to escape being questioned by the paparazzi that flooded in the second they left.

"Waiters carry food around." Rude offered his friend, as he tried to ignore the flashing cameras of the press crowded at the foot of the stairs, and looked for any of the mechanical security. Apart from security cameras hanging onto the corners a quarter of the way up the buildings and further up he couldn't see the rest. He sensed the place was secure; the building itself gave off a similar majesty as the ShinRa tower but also it felt fortified. The thick rock which made up most of its bulk would need a considerable amount of explosives to bring down. Also the perimeter of police forces guarding the area was impressive for a supposedly 'thin' measure and the inside was crawling with Turks it was virtually laughable to think of anyone foolish enough to attempt anything. But then Rude still wouldn't put it passed someone, there were fools out there after all.

"Assuming they make it all the way over. I don't even think I'm in the hall, actually they have to get through Kito first." John continued muttering negatively to himself. Rude was starting to see his point but he would much prefer his friend's job over mingling, what if he was expected to join in conversation?

"I will bring you something."

"_Really_? Thanks you're such a pal," John said cheering up instantly, Rude shrugged simply glad to have an excuse to avoid the trivial chit chat of the rich and famous.

He noticed more cameras as they neared the stone entrance way, the devices swivelled to zoom in on each approaching face individually and followed them as they went through the glass swivel doors. Entering the lobby a woman stood ready for them at a podium. Beyond her the entrance way was massive- well small compared to ShinRa tower – with dramatic, polished black columns leading the way to the door to the hall way. The silence was absolute, no sound penetrated the thick walls and despite the high ceiling the room felt claustrophobic. The theme was birds, each column was sculptured like a twisted tree with various species sitting in the branches and the ceiling was a joint canopy including partings in the 'leaves' for soft lighting. Ornamental crystal birds flew suspended from the ceiling, their coloured wings catching the light and casting in all around like drops of rainbow. The tiled floor was also patterned between white marble and enamelled tiles depicting scenes of birds. Different shades of Chocobo's featured strongly, a large tile showing a golden Chocobo flying in front of the sun took centre stage in the middle of the floor. Too absorbed in the extravagant environment Rude did not realise who the comparatively plain greeter was but when she spoke his eyes bulged behind his shades.

"Took you lot long enough. Everyone else was here an hour ago. Why I am not surprised Trent was your driver. Well get in there." It was Erharda. She ushered everyone past her impatiently but stopped Lithia and Manube, swiftly eyeing their attire and exclaiming, "Mercy me you poor things- Well it's only for one night just bear with it."

Walking between the columns towards two large black polished doors at the far end he noticed there were more double doors along the far walls, but all white and demure. He paid them no more mind, after Kyo got around to actually showing them the electronic map and placement of all units he knew they were all well guarded on the other side. The instant the black set of doors swept open to allow them passage the gentle noise of the party ruptured the silence, Hana jolted at the abrupt change and everyone squinted at the golden light pouring down on them. A few heads turned at their arrival but as hardly of the other quests knew who they were their interest quickly returned back to whatever conversation they'd been having. The late comers own attention was purely on the beautiful, opulent room; even Shady who had been in many high regarded establishments was intimidated. _So this is what ShinRa's world was like?_ It was certainly worlds away from the rest of reality.

Like the lobby the theme of birds continued into the grand hall, the ball room floor was a giant mosaic of Phoenix and Rude could swear some of the tiles for its colourful plumage were accented with precious stones and its outline in gold. For some it was hard to believe such lavishness could be spent on a floor when the same wealth could bring the cities poor from their poverty. At the back of the circular room a twin set of stair case curves up towards a balcony, the banisters were ornamented were sweet little song birds at the top and the bottom with everything else designed to imitate foliage, a little ironic that the President who was often accused of 'killing' nature was reconstructing its image in stone and metal. Rude was not surprised to see once again the man himself was up there, well attended to, watching over everyone.

"The guy has a thing for heights," John muttered to him when he saw what had Rude's attention. The bald rookie nodded in agreement.

As for the rest of the hall the ceiling was domed with classical stained glass depictions of the phoenix summon to compliment the floor. As in the lobby crystals dangled down to redirect the light which now came from a giant chandelier in the middle of the room. Off to the sides, behind more columns- these ones metal plated in bronze and gold to have a warmer touch than their lobby counter parts – were doorways which led to more corridors and probably more doors or stair cases. Some of their group were already heading towards these, as was John who took a regretful look at the buffet table before leaving for his position. "It's going to be a long night."

Rude was of the same mind, so much glamour and winking jewellery was tiring for the eyes already. "I won't forget."

"Better not," John smirked turning around to walk backwards, "remember I know where you live."

Rude didn't bother to remind him that of this night they were all moving so he didn't actually know where he lived, for that matter Rude didn't know where he lived -or was should he say going to live - either. Wherever it was he hoped it would be nice. He watched John until he disappeared down one of the adjoining corridors monitored by Kito. Rude smirked to himself when he noticed Kito still request confirmation of ID despite having shared a ride with John the entire way here, but it was more amusing to see John's flustered reaction. Turning his back on them he noticed little spots of blue light had started dancing near his right foot and move away towards the centre of the room. Alarmed he search for the cause and nearly gasped in surprise, while wondering how he didn't notice them in the first place. Just under the glass dome was a net of thin glass reminiscent of a bird cage, although see-through its shadow faintly reached the ballroom floor and walls giving the illusion the whole room was completely caged. The pretty effect was oddly sinister but what had actually caught his eye with the pale bird like creatures fluttering across the empty space above them. They weren't real, Rude could tell that much as the ceiling light seemed to pass through their shimmering wings. Besides that he knew no bird that glowed or glittered like a neon sign would live long in the wild. Nevertheless their delicate and frivolous flight, once noticed was difficult to look away from; they seemed to move with the soft waltzing music, changing direction with the altering tempo. He didn't look away when he sensed someone stand close behind him.

"Beautiful aren't they?" Said a woman's voice he recognised. "It's a particular employee's special ability, much like Reeve's 'Inspire' that brings his robotic puppets to life. They emit a calming atmosphere and are usually part of a unique healing spell. If anything goes wrong tonight it's like having hundreds of little 'Last Chance's above our heads."

"Reassuring," He said finally twisting to see Arisa looking at the ceiling behind him.

She brought her gaze down to looking at his shades a knowing smile on her red painted lips, "Tseng told me to tell you to get back to work."

Cheeks heating he nodded and started walking, to where he didn't know. Arisa called after him, "By the way that suits a good look on you¸ I should tell Tseng to get you getter fit for your uniform."

Face burning he managed to make it to the ball room floor, where a small number of couples were taking advantage of the space while a larger number of women in frocks and gowns waited longingly at the sidelines. Rude quickly sidled away and tried to find an inconspicuous spot all the while feeling lost and out of place. He spotted Shady doing his thing with a pair of pretty young girls equally charmed by him while Hana was escorting Maya- who was unpredictably wearing a white version of Hana's dress- across the room in a dignified manner, both looking very much like the other mature women in the room. He observed them pause at an older couple sipping champagne, engaging them in polite conversation. Actually Maya was doing the little talking on their side while Hana stood mutely beside her.

He decided he'd locate Jim and Tabby, he was after all curious about their attire. Since this room was covered he looked for the dining hall where Jim was supposed to be liaising and Tabby was stationed at some windows somewhere along the right of the building. Luckily Ricky was most helpful in directing him towards the dining hall; with so many bodies milling around it was difficult to match the blue print of the floors in his mind to the real thing. On his way he saw various other new Turks trying to look inconspicuous and he paused only once to spy Kureno and Arisa having what looked like an awkward conversation behind one of the pillars, he thought the female Turk was acting a little strangely for her body language fluctuated between her normal boisterous self confidence and nervousness. Admittedly curious for the cause the lure to find some his normal companions was much greater, if he was going to be forced into company he might as well spent some of it with people he was comfortable around.

Thankfully Jim was standing thoughtfully near the main buffet along the far side of the room, closer to one of two kitchen doors where the waiters appeared and disappeared through. He sidled over and waited for the older man to sense him. Almost immediately Jim glanced behind him but it took him a double take to actually register it was Rude. The man practically jumped for joy and wasted no time complimenting Rude's outfit and the larger rookie likewise thought Jim's simple pinstriped suit looked good on him. It seemed Jim was going to spend the next couple of hours of his life in this hall making sure the waiters remained the ones checked by the company and no new faces came out. Tedious but at least he was near food.

"Doesn't seem like much will happen tonight," The older rookie commented before he stepped aside to let a woman sample some seafood delicacy which Rude personally thought looked unappetizing at best and smelled revolting. "Any thought on who will end up with who?"

"I haven't thought about it." Rude confessed, moving a little further from the buffet and making sure Jim still had a good view of both doors.

"Really? Well I do know Arisa and Lyon will be assigned new partners tonight with us." Jim informed him not knowing Rude had been told as much already. "Think Marko will end up with one of them, despite last night he does have the best all round performance."

Rude frowned, he did not agree with Jim's thinking. Considering what he'd just seen he got the impression Kureno would be Arisa's partner, it may somewhat explain the behaviour he had witnessed if she'd found out they were to be partners and had almost revealed it to the rookie but was then trying to cover it up. As for Lyon he got the feeling he may well have requested one among them and he didn't dare tell Jim who he suspected that was.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Rude decided a change in subject was in order, "Do you think John will like anything on this table?"

"John?" Jim gave him a strange look and the larger man again didn't try and fathom what conclusions he was drawing under that skull of his. "He'd like the pasta and spicy vegetables but I don't think he'd like anything else. He wouldn't like the punch. Why do you ask? Where is he stuck?"

"Left wing."

"Poor guy, there's nothing there." Said Jim looking down for his friend, "You being his personal servant?"

"Something like that."

"Oh could you do me a favour then?" The older man asked now wearing an apologetic expression, "Sorry to put this on you but I promised Tabby I'd get food to her somehow since the waiters don't go up the stairs and she's out of the way. Mind taking her some stuff up now? Down the corridor Thatch is near there's a staircase down the other end, just up those Tabby should be," He lowered his voice as some guests wandered a little too close, "Patrolling the corridors. People can still go up them apparently."

Rude nodded in understand and Jim again brightened back to his usual continence, thanking him quietly but vigorously as he pulled out a small wooden tray from under the cloth of the table. He was informed his friend had 'swiped' it earlier as it was filled with various sweet and savoury delights, nothing worth noting as a proper meal in fact there were probably more desserts and treats than anything else. Rude raised an eyebrow at the finished collection.

"What? It's what I'd pick."

Shaking his head ever so slightly he left Jim and followed his directions to Tabby. Along the way he lost quite a few pieces off the tray every time he passed a Turk, jokingly some didn't allow him passage unless he relinquished the food. It seemed the waiters had figured out who the Turks were or at least knew they weren't anyone important compared to the other people at the party thus were not inclined to offer them any entrées. Jim had anticipated this it seemed as Rude had originally thought he'd put on more than their friend would probably eat. If she in her normal state he imagined she would either be fretting too much to really eat anything or likewise be too eager on the job or simply excited about the party to really eat. He probably should have asked Jim how she'd been before they'd parted but then the older man probably had mentioned it in his customary ten-words-a-second ramble.

Reaching the upstairs he already figured out the facilities that at least extra restrooms were to be located here, it would not do after all for a queue outside the ladies bathroom to appear downstairs. However he also noticed two other sets of double doors with strips of light around the edges and noise and music coming out. Approaching them quietly he noticed they had much more of a 'party atmosphere' within then downstairs, the music wasn't modern but livelier and the people inside were having a good time if the banter and unreserved laughter was anything to go by, also the scent of cigar smoke and whisky was quite potent. Listening closely he discerned the sound of a roulette wheels, chips clattering and card shuffling. He shook his head; it must be pleasant to have so much money it was fun to throw it away. He wasn't impressed with Kyo for leaving this detail out of the report although technically they really didn't need to know about it since they probably had been expected to stay downstairs area or on the left side of the building. He was however curious by the comparative lack of personal especially as it was a large space and it seemed only Tabby was monitoring the area and he found her standing on probably the furthest spot from the two rooms.

He could tell nothing from her silhouette against an old looking window, which was out of place against all the others, it looked like it belonged in a church instead of a hotel. She turned round when she sensed him behind her and smiled sweetly but not ecstatically like Jim, well until she noticed the tray of sweets- for most of the savoury snacks had already been taken- he held in front of him.

"Rude?" She cried remaining by the window instead of bounding towards him, "What are you doing here? Did Jim send you? I'm sorry about that; I'm surprised he remembered actually. I heard you and John arrived late, nothing happened did it?"

In answer Rude smiled amusedly at her and offered her the tray. She took it gratefully but immediately put it down on the window sill. Now he was closer he could make out the details of her dress. The main body was black and puffed out at the hips elegantly but there was no added lace or frill, the only decoration was the brown fur, he didn't know what it was exactly, but it when across the chest and around both arms so her shoulders were exposed bringing attention to the cushion-cut, smoky quartz jewel that hung from her neck. The jewel caught the nearby Mako reactor's light but instead of the usual sharpness it tended to cause the old window took much of that away, turning the light from green to blue and making everything softer around the edges. Besides that she wore little black gloves that had matching brown fur on the edges and her hair was partly tied back with a little bow, a style more suited for a child then a grown woman but it made Tabby look innocent and unassuming, like a little doll which was probably the idea.

"You look quite dashing," She said and he rolled his eyes behind his shades, she'd said it in a similar manner to Arisa and he wondered if she was teasing him or not. Then she picked up the glass of red wine Jim had poured for her and took a long sip. When she put the glass half emptied back down he asked her where everyone else was. "Well," She explained lowering her voice so he had to step closer, "since there is gambling going on in the other rooms they didn't want the Turk presence to be noticeable up here, although everyone working in those rooms are from our department, I know Jordo is in there."

"And you?"

She laughed nervously, "I'm just supposed to wander around this level for a bit, keep an eye on the windows really and I've given directions to someone who was lost looking for the bathroom." She seemed quite proud of herself when she said this which again had Rude smiling on the inside. "To be honest though I keep coming and stopping at this window."

"It's nice." He agreed and she giggled again.

"I read on this plaque it was part of a ruined Church and when the President picked this site for the Hotel he put it into the design as a tribute. But it's so lovely I wondered why it's not somewhere where more people could see it?"

"It's not bullet proof." He suggested. Which was true, although there was a sheet in front of it, it was not double glazed like the other windows, thus was probably the weakest window in the whole building. It was probably good Tabby kept an eye on it as it would be the easiest point of entry and quite a act of vandalism to smash it if intruders where looking to make a statement.

"Yeah. I'm glad you came up it's been pretty lonely up here but I suppose you'll have to go soon. What are you doing?"

"Liaising," He responded with a tint of dread but Tabby didn't pick up on it.

"Oh well I suppose you better get back to it Mr Mingler," She giggled again, "but before you go could you get my shoe out of this hole in the wood, I tried to do it myself and its lodged in pretty tight and I don't want to wreck the shoes anymore than they are already. They should have given me cheaper ones, I mean their wonderfully soft on the inside which is nice but you can't see them and I've tripped in them twice already and then I went and got it stuck."

Rude smiled to himself again at how typical she was before bending down. She shuffled to the side revealing one abandoned shoe and the one stuck in the wood, he noted her dress was now trailing on the floor, two inches too long and she hobbled suggesting she'd twisted her ankle when her shoe got caught. He didn't say anything as he carefully tried to ease the heel out, it was stuck in pretty snug and it took a surprising amount of effort and control to ease it out without snapping the heel off. It was a relief when it popped out but the black material around the heel was frayed. He set both shoes up for her to step back into, which she did gingerly resorting to using him as support. When he stood up it was strange having her two inches closer to his face than before. Now able to move they both circulated the floor three times, for Tabby was wobbly in high heels although she didn't grumble about it and they walked at a snail's pace until she got used to walking almost on tiptoe without falling out of the shoes, he wouldn't leave her until she could walk a full stretch of corridor without stumbling over. A fine display of Turk skill he thought after righting her when she almost fell on her face for the fifth time, but then he was happy to help her and her company was extremely pleasant. She seemed, much like most of the other rookies, slightly embarrassed by her attire and generally more reserved in her actions but Rude could tell she was still a mixture of excitement and nervousness. She wanted to not screw up but wanted to see more of the building, or at least the downstairs so couldn't wait for midnight to come. There was still three and a half hours to go though by the time they parted.

He left with a slightly sore tooth for every time they passed the tray Tabby had taken something and insisted he did the same, the last confectionary had been obnoxiously sweet.

As he passed the two gambling rooms again he noticed a door, that hadn't been open before was slightly ajar at the other end of the corridor. In fact he hadn't even noticed a door there before. Checking the stairway and corridor was clear he went to examine it. As he got closer he saw the faint track of small wheels being pushed along the carpet in front of the door, they lead to a normal bookcase. He pushed it carefully and felt it roll reluctantly along before bumping into a stone stand supporting an expensive vase without flowers. Well that explained why he hadn't noticed the door but who went to the trouble of hiding a door and then not bother to hide it again after use?

He hoped some part of management or the hotel staff used this door or if it did turn out to be an intruder then hopefully this was a measure of his incompetence. Tapping his bow tie, he double checked no one was around, he noticed a clearly drunk richm young couple stumble towards the rest rooms but nothing otherwise suspicious.

"..._Is anyone there?_" He didn't recognise the voice on the other end but remembered belatedly that he probably should have started speaking, "_002?_" Rude guessed that was him.

"I'm reporting a suspicious hidden entrance on the second level of the right wing," He quickly recalled the area code from the blue print, "between 7.4f and 7.4g, originally behind a bookcase."

"_Copy,_" The voice replied and then there was a pause while he could hear the faint clamour of many people in a small room clicking away at computers and various other beeping sounds. Then the voice came back, "Proceed, the President will be expecting you." The link was disconnected from the other side.

Rude almost blanched from the shock, _the President_ was expecting _him_? How bizarre.

Wishing he hadn't noticed the door or it had been an intruder he open the door and enter the dark passage way. He made point of putting on his gloves and shutting the door behind him. The lights came on as soon as he did but none escaped the narrow corridor he found himself in for the door was sealed around the edges. It reminded him of a panic room only the floor was still carpeted and the walls were panelled halfway with wood and before switching to old fashioned wall paper to the ceiling. The lighting was also pretty dated. The glass coverings around the bulbs noticeably cobwebbed. Why was the President down a place like this?

Striding down the narrow space he reached the door at the other end, nothing special about it and went on. The decor was similar in the second corridor as the first except the space was wider and shorter with some sturdy, carpeted stairs on the far side. He went up these and through the door at the top. Emerging onto a new corridor he immediately tasted the fresher air and held the door open to allow the light behind him to reveal the unlit area in front. Everything was marble, much like the front entrance in fact but the architectural design was purposely reflecting ancient temples. Although there was no lights there had to be windows as the white stone glowed green just a little beyond his sight. It was completely silent so he decided he could step out, the echo of his footstep was painfully loud. Treading a little more carefully he took in the hallway. On his left it was dark but a small window at the end illuminated enough for him to see six arched entrances which branched off to places unknown. Looking at where he had emerged it did seem like he'd gone through a servant's passage. On the right the corridor went on a little further with thin columns signalling the end. As it was better lit he first went this way. The end of the corridor opened up to a large empty space with a low ceiling, opposite the top of huge circular stained glass window was visible. He walked across the space noticing the closer to the other end he got the louder the din of orchestral music and human voices grew. Reaching the banister he looked over the edge but tried to stay as much out of view as possible. Just underneath him thin glass tubes stretched out from the walls and just above him was the painted dome. Further down was a balcony with a table in the middle set for three but only two glass were out. Two sets of stair cases lead up from the balcony to the empty room he stood in and below the balcony the ballroom was partly observable. More people were dancing now but it was difficult to identify individuals. As the President wasn't there he retreated and looked for some sort of clue as to which other passage he may have gone down.

Examining each in turn he spotted a single strand of blonde hair just catching the light at the entrance of the second one along from the servant's door, on his right facing the little window. With nothing else to go on he took this passage, thankfully it was only dark until after a bend and then a trail of lights lead the way as other off shoots were not lit. The walk was at least short although there were plenty of corners and he almost jumped when he unknowing stepped into the finally arched passage and heard two people talking. They hadn't heard him so he paused to find out who they were.

"Don't get stroppy with me boy," said someone with a rather gruff voice and Rude guessed the man probably smoked cigars but then he may just think that as the smell of tobacco and strong alcohol was also apparent again.

"I am not Father; I just don't want to waste my time around all those stupid dull associates of _yours_." Rude was surprised at the obnoxious tone to the young voice. Although the person sounded older than Reno but he wasn't sure if that simply down to grooming.

"Well you are not buzzing around me all night," The father growled without kindness, "Besides it's about time you started making an effort to keep up good appearances, the popularity of the company relies on it. Also one of those women could be your future wife."

"I don't care about that." The youth responded stubbornly. There was a shuffle of material and Rude imagined he'd just crossed his arms and he could almost see the face off as father and son stared each other down. He figured out it was the President and Rufus he was overhearing and though he did not fancy interrupting he knew it was time to intervene.

Pretending he only just arrived he walked along the passage unassumingly and rounded the corner to almost collide with the President and his son, as he suspected they were caught in a battle of wills but that quickly stopped when his large shadow fell on them both. The President whipped round to face him but stepped back at the same time and Rude got the impression he'd been surprised and slightly fearful. Rude understood that since the pair were quite alone and he was a stranger.

"Were you sent?" The President asked and despite his nervous body language his voice was full of gruff, authority. He wasn't someone who expected to be challenged. A contrast to his son who had hardly moved and was watching him curiously and the reaction of his father with concealed amusement.

Rude nodded.

"What took you so long," The President growled, then grabbed Rufus by the shoulder and shoved him towards Rude, the teen did not protest at the treatment "Here, escort him back to the ballroom and make sure he gets there."

With that he stomped away and quickly disappeared from view. Making sure Rufus was following he turned around silently and started back. He was relying on his lack of emotion to give enough aloofness and authority to convince the teenager to follow without question. It seemed to work, he was incredibly relieved and as Rufus kept pace with him, looking to the side in thought he didn't think he was as awful as Kyo and Trent had made out- well for the moment at least. The way the Blonde carried him and how he was trying to keep abreast with the rookie Turk suggested he didn't appreciate the idea of being lead around like a child when he knew where he was going. Interestingly he noticed like his father he was wearing a white tux and his blonde hair was gelled back, but unlike his father the waist coat and shirt were black and he didn't have a moustache. The silence between them was interrupted as soon as they came to the corridor leading to the large empty room for Rufus suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and demanded, "Tell me, are you a Turk?"

Not happy Rude slowly rotated back round to meet narrowed icy blue eyes a couple of feet away, if the teen wanted to make his life difficult he supposed Rufus could run into any of the other corridors if the he didn't like his answers and the last thing he wanted to do was cause an alarm so he just nodded. "You don't talk much, good." Rufus commented haughtily but said no more on it. Instead he walked at a measured pace towards Rude and then he passed him, "My father is a hypocrite you know."

Rude didn't say anything just watched the boy's antics patiently and followed as Rufus entered the large room towards the banister, "He tells me to entertain these people _he_ invited while he has a poker came upstairs until dinner. He even has you Turk's dressed up all for appearances when he can't be bothered to show either. It's such a waste of time and expense, there are more efficient ways to keep people loyal to you, can you think of any Turk?"

The blonde rounded on him again but Rude did not entertain him with an answer and after a moment the boy nodded, like a man commending a silent victory. He then beckoned Rude to him and the rookie complied, wary but curious and hoping John wasn't going hungry yet. "Do you like doing this?"

"..."

"I shall take that as a no," Rufus smirked and leaned on the banister propping his chin delicately onto his hand, "I shall apologise for my father who insists on these tedious facades, I know many in your department get frustrated by this. Don't worry when I am in power there shall hardly be any of this," He waved his free arm dismissively at everything in front of him before tucking it away again and looking at Rude is a almost disarmingly charming grin, "Isn't that something to look forward to?"

Despite himself Rude smirked but Rufus took it as agreement rather than the man finding him amusing. They stayed like that for awhile, the rookie wasn't particularly inclined to give orders to the teenager who was determined to make sure Rude felt beneath him and Rufus actually seemed content looking down at the people dancing. At length Rufus straightened and ordered, "Let's go."

Now Rude made sure to wait a moment before following the future President to be and the action did please the teenager who strolled leisurely down one of the staircases to the balcony, then down the next flight of stairs. Once or twice he made sure Rude was behind him, specifically one step like having a dog in tow but otherwise ignored him. Meanwhile Rude saw Arisa and Kureno, still together, looking at him with curiosity and a few of the other guest had turned to watch them proceed down the steps although most eyes were on Rufus. "Stay close to me, on my left, and don't stop walking." The teen commanded from the corner of his mouth as they came to the last five steps.

Rude subtly shifted to be in position and almost collided with a man who had stepped forward to get to the blonde at the bottom of the steps. "Excuse me young-"

That was as far as he got since Rufus completely blanked the man striding away a little faster while Rude kept up, acting like a human barrier for the teenager against guests. Sometimes when someone called out to Rufus the teenager would acknowledge with a smile and wave but acted as if he had somewhere to be or was looking for someone. It didn't deter the attention for most of the people gathered who didn't belong to the company, they were eager to increase ShinRa's regard towards them and their business. Rude almost felt sorry for the teenager, even he was beginning to see some of the people as a little sycophantic from their smarmy and pining voices. Eventually though Rufus made it through the ball room with his large rookie shadow and seemed impressed with Rude's effectiveness at keeping undesirables at bay. They moved towards the doorway monitored by Lithia into an adjacent lounging area which in the blue print was regarded as part of the ball room. She gave Rude a look as he passed but he simply shrugged since he couldn't answer at that moment.

The lounging area was not that crowded and no one inside showed as much interest in Rufus's arrival as the ones outside so Rude presumed most were with the company. Veld was speaking to a strong jawed man with jet black hair while Tseng stood unobtrusively to the side. Scarlett lounged in the large white sofa while the man he'd seen in the tunnel towards the woman's office sat in a matching sofa opposite. He was one of the view that took a little extra notice of Rufus but didn't stand or approach him. There was something about the man that Rude couldn't quite put his finger on that was now bothering him. A man he recognised as Palmer stood sweating near the little window chattering to another man who looked like he was dying for an excuse to get away.

Rufus walked straight across the room- ensuring everyone one in it noticed him- to Tseng who looked mildly humoured to see him but otherwise didn't make much of his appearance amongst them, except to bow his head politely. Veld and the man he was talking to did not pay the teen any mind and in the same fashion Rufus did not look at them once. Rude found this odd and stayed back a couple of steps.

"Is something the matter Rufus?" Tseng asked politely keeping his tone neutral.

"Not at all," Replied the teenager briskly as he focused on making sure his cuffs where in just the right place on his pale wrists, "since I was sent down I thought I would rather join you all in hiding than be out there."

"We are not hiding," corrected the second-in-command, "We just happen to be here all at the same time."

Rufus smirked up at the Wutai man and said almost patronisingly, "Of course."

It was around this point Rude became rather aware of a pair of eyes on his back. Making an effort to be inconspicuous about it he moved to the side to see exactly who it was even though he had a feeling he knew. It was indeed Scarlett and he did not like the look on her glamorous face thus quickly pretended he hadn't seen. Instead he watched Veld, who had now paused his conversation to listen to what the young man was saying. The older Turk shared a smile with the dark haired man and rolled his eyes, they seemed to find Rufus as funny as the Wutain. They must be use to his behaviour which suggested the superior- than- thou attitude was typical. He wondered what the other blonde man in the rooms reaction to Rufus was as by now his derogative tone was bringing the focus onto him. He decided to risk looking behind him again, careful to keep his back to Scarlett. He frowned, the sofa was empty. He looked around the room but the man was gone.

"Oh!" Rufus' exclamation reclaimed the rookie's attention, "How rude of me, you are dismissed." It took him a moment to realise the teenager was talking to him, "that means you can _go_."

Confused he just nodded and left, aware the teenager seemed rather pleased at his obedience and Tseng took the moment when Rufus' attention was not on him to give Veld a sort of 'help-me' look. As Rude reach the threshold of the room Veld started making conversation with Rufus and Tseng excused himself. He hovered by the door so he could exit with the Wutain, or at least hold the door open for him. He was reward with a curt nod and caught the whispered, "Now to find a missing person."

He wasn't given the chance to inquire what he was talking about as the man hurried off and Rude felt a sudden pull on his jacket. He spun round; ignoring the door swing shut behind him to face Lithia who was unfazed by almost getting a fist in her face- a hand was already raised to block it. "What was that about?"

"I was ordered to escort him."

"Seemed like the Kid was on a mission." She commented fishing for more information, fixing him with an inquiring eye.

"He doesn't like the party."

She snorted, "Poor thing." She flicked her hair back gracefully, letting her waves shimmer before continuing, "This dress is the most uncomfortable thing I've ever had to wear in my life, give me my rags any day. If I breathe too hard I fear I'll pop out."

To Rude it didn't look that tight on her and shook his head. It seemed that was the right thing to do for she smiled at him, the first time he'd seen her with a smile all evening and she really did look stunning. Then she said, "Kureno?"

Automatically Rude stepped aside to see the man approaching, Arisa not far behind. The pair weaved carefully through the milling quests that most hardly noticed their passage. Kureno slowed as he neared his expression friendly and unassuming as usual. He gave Lithia who he was clearly more familiar with a big grin and to Rude a respectful nod. Arisa appeared a second later, grinning fiendishly at him, "Who's getting chummy with the President's son, huh?"

"I wouldn't go that far." He responded but she didn't look convinced, if anything her grin broadened.

"Oh but he obviously likes you." She cooed. Kureno at this point was gracing him with an apologetic look, Rude noted his attire was rather casual, the deep brown suit matched his hair and the black shirt underneath was covered by a rather twee vest.

"How can you tell?" Asked Lithia as she took advantage of the relative concealment of the other Turks to adjust the top of her dress.

Arisa smirked mysteriously at them, "Oh you know I just do. More importantly how are you holding out?" Just a look at their faces was answer enough and she laughed, "Yeah, makes you wish something a little more interesting would happen but sometimes this can be as good as it gets for us in weeks. Mostly it's your average investigation work in the mean time, escorting troopers now and then. Plus the seniors will get the life threatening work first unless in a special case your skills are specifically required. Still that's not always a bad thing." She concluded and Rude noted the swift glance at Kureno when she said this.

"So long as it doesn't involved anymore dresses, I think I'll be happy." Lithia grumbled making Arisa laugh again.

"You did pull the short straw didn't you? You and Manube wasn't it?"

Lithia rolled her eyes, "Yeah."

Rude thought it was a decent moment to excuse himself and left the trio. He tried to get through the guests as gracefully as Kureno and Arisa but it just was not happening. His large frame loomed over most present making him uncomfortably conspicuous and because he had been with Rufus minutes prior it suddenly made him quite fascinating. Before he got back to Jim in the dining hall he already been accosted numerous times about the location of the teenager or even the President and he didn't quite like the idea of having to go through it all again but he had promised John.

"You seem popular," Jim commented as soon as Rude managed to get past a pair of doddering bankers wanting reassurance that they'd see the President at dinner, as if Rude would know. _Mores to the point who plans dinner for midnight?_

"Unfortunately," The bald rookie grumbled, wariness creeping into his voice.

"Why are people asking you about the President and his kid?"

"I was ordered to escort Rufus."

"Aaand?" Jim pressed, leading him to the buffet but stopped Rude taking anything, "They put out fresh food every half hour, give it a minute. Well what's the boy like?"

"Arrogant," Rude replied bluntly.

Jim chuckled and sipped on the champagne he was holding, "Why am I not surprised? So who else is on your repertoire of powerful liaisons? Tseng, Rufus..."

"You are making too much out of it." He responded shaking his head, he knew Jim was teasing him but as always had to nip the joke in the bud early on, not that it would stop the man.

"Sure I am," Jim smirked, swirling his drink then giving it to a passing waiter, "Don't drink that stuff, it's sickly." He scrunched up his face as if he'd just swallowed something sour, sticking out his tongue in a un-gentlemanly fashion. Rude noted some ladies giving the shorter man an appalled look and did well to hide his amusement.

"I'll be sure to."

"You actually had anything tonight big guy?" Jim asked dabbing lips with a napkin to remove any trace of the drink.

Rude nodded, "Tabby offered me some of her food."

Behind Jim a coordinated parade of waiters and waitresses suddenly marched out of one door and began clearing plates as they snaked around the table. On their tail a procession of similar looking people, laden with trays of fresh snacks, glasses and bottles set down their load almost as fast as the old were removed. Rude wondered what happened to the stuff that wasn't eaten.

"Oh," Said Jim, "Did she like it?"

"Didn't complain."

"That's not saying much," Jim turned to eye the fresh hors'doeuvres, "I wonder how they can eat some of this stuff." He said watching the women who looked at him disapprovingly before scoop up something that looked very like raw fish eggs, the older rookie looked like he wanted to vomit. Recovering himself he looked back at Rude with a beaming smile, "Lucky the Pasta is fine, delicious actually and John won't mind some of this," He pulled out a brown bottle with some fancy label from under the table on a tray with two glasses, "Here try some."

"What is it?"

"No idea," Jim replied cheerily, pouring the already open bottle over one glass. A potent, creamy liquid flowed out which Rude thought didn't smell too bad; in fact he rather liked it. Jim gave him the glass and after a cautionary sniff he took a measured swig, ready with a napkin to wipe the possible white moustache as soon as he lowered the glass. It was strong, with a rum and nut hint but was noticeably warm as it rolled down his throat taking away the dryness he'd been ignoring until now. "Some hearty stuff though isn't it? Looks like something they'd have up in the glaciers. I swiped it from the kitchen when I went in to get another tray and before you give me that look Lyon snuck one out himself, I think he's been passing it around to the Turks. It's got caffeine in it apparently." Now that Jim mentioned it there was an after taste of coffee in his mouth. "It's good though, worth the gil it probably cost unlike that other pissy stuff they're serving."

Something dawned on Rude, "How much of this have you had?"

"Not that much" Jim answered picking up three bowls and filling each with a different kind of pasta. True to his word the bottle was practically full but the bald rookie noticed Jim's hands were a little shaky as he concentrated on not mixing up the pasta.

"Don't have anymore," Rude advised quietly.

"What do you-" Rude cut the his protesting off by gripping the hand holding the ladle to steadily guide the food into the right bowl. Jim got the point, "Aye, I won't."

Rude nodded pleased. Taking the tray he tried to travel via the edges of the room, but there was so many guests it didn't make that much difference. It was a good thing the pasta was cold anyway as it took him a near fifteen minutes to get to Kito, the man was still diligent at his post. Rude wondered if he could balance the tray with one hand and get his ID as he approached the serious faced man, he could fire a gun with one hand and deactivate a bomb with the other but the bottle and bowls on the tray were not particularly balanced no matter how Rude held it. However Kito immediately stepped aside for him expression not changing at all. Rude hesitated, there was always something about the man that had him wondering if he took his eye off him would he end up with something sharp in his back and he was pretty sure the man knew he gave off that impression.

Covering his wavering he nodded a 'thank you' at the rookie before striding a little faster down the passage Kito had been guarding. It was not that long but felt rather dislocated as he got to the other side.

"Thank the Gods; I was beginning to think you'd forgotten." He pushed himself off the wall and gratefully took the tray held out to him and put it on the table. "Oh canapѐ!"

"I was held up," Rude said apologetically as John rubbed his hands together to warm them up, Rude felt like doing that to but didn't.

"It is busy out there, thanks for bringing it I was beginning to think I would perish. I only woke up when the seniors came banging on the doors so I haven't eaten all day." He explained digging in to the pasta. After the first couple of hurried mouthfuls his chewing slowed, then he tried the other two kinds, his expression became noticeably thoughtful before he put the lot down and said, "I miss my Ma's cooking. What's this?" John asked noticing the bottle and picking it up trying to decipher the twirly writing.

"A Liqueur."

John pulled a face, "Isn't that stuff sweet?"

"Not this one." Rude assured him stepping forward to take the bottle and pour them both a glass full, "Jim said it was better than the champagne. It's strong." He added when John took a mouthful. He watched as John's eyes bulged momentarily before he swallowed it down.

"You can say that again."

Rude smirked and sipped his own drink. They stayed like that, leaning against the expensive table quietly- and slowly-emptying their glasses. John being the first to finish broke the comfortable silence between them. "How are the others?"

"Fine," Rude frowned, he didn't feel like talking much sometimes it felt like such an effort especially when he was reasonably relaxed and now was one of those times but he knew John would want to hear more than that. "Tabby is in a corridor upstairs and Jim is watching the situation in the dining hall."

John laughed, "I bet he's stuffing himself."

"Probably," Rude actually smiled, thinking their older friend had seemed more opinionated on the food the second time he saw him.

"Thanks for hanging around by the way," John lowered his voice, "Mr Serious out there isn't much company, kept telling me to get back to my post if I just took a couple of steps down there. Another Half an hour and I'll be free. Did you know we're getting a dinner as well? Well if you want to go, I might skip it if the main course is anything like the starters." He nodded at the cold pasta, "I tell you what, I feel sorry for the one who's got to stand for the rest of the party, only one person has come by so far. Want to know who it was?"

The way he said it Rude supposed John thought it was something that would be interesting to him so he nodded.

"It was Red."

"Red?"

John almost choked on his drink- at some point he'd poured himself another, "Yeah Red, the _kid_. Weird, erratic, flaming red hair, this ringing bells?" John was looking at him as if he'd lost it. Actually since the Kid had told him his real name (or preferred alias at least) his mind had disconnected the thought of him being called anything else, Reno suited him too much.

"Oh."

"Oh? He practically handed you your ass yesterday and you forget who he is. Bang your head last night?...Oh wait you did." John chuckled to himself and Rude vaguely thought of head butting Marko as he relinquished John of his drink deciding he'd had too much already.

"Hey!" John complained until Rude gave him a raise eyebrow, "...It is strong isn't it?"

The taller man nodded and set both glasses down with the bottle, he was going to take it with him when he left.

"So," John started when it began to get awkward, "you going to dinner?"

Rude shook his head.

"Going to go upstairs huh? He's on the third floor I think if you're interested." John offered looking up, "Or at least he said something about the third floor. He's a nice guy, stayed with me for awhile and gave me this to look after." John held up a bouncy ball, "Said Tseng was trying to confiscate it. I did see the second-in-command talking to Kito but he didn't come down. Mind giving it back to him if you see him," His expression became guilty, "I've sort of been playing with it and I nearly had a heart attack when I heard your shoe scuff on the tiles coming down the passage. What if you'd been the commander?" John laughed nervously; as Rude rolled his eyes wishing the redhead would keep his balls to himself.

"Alright," He said and held out his hand to receive the little black glittery toy, checking his watch as he did; fifteen minutes to go. It was not worth going back out into the party and John was right, he did want to see Reno again.

"Think the others are thinking about dining this late?" John mused aloud, "Tabby should be hungry at least? Where did you say she was again?"

Rude inwardly sighed, "She'll be with Jim before you get over there."

"Okay," John said picking up Rude's tone, "May I ask if you've seen my brother at all?"

"He was in the ballroom last I saw," He informed the shorter man.

"Dancing?"

"No."

"Okay, don't feel you have to stay. Your free to move around you can go up now if you want." John offered gesturing at the stairs behind them but Rude shook his head, knowing his friend would rather he stayed. "You know tomorrow could be hell if we're not given assignments. Tabby will probably have us exploring every new floor we get access to. Speaking of which who'd you fancy as a partner?"

"I don't know."

"Aw come on, I won't tell..."

Until midnight John proceeded to whittle down who he thought would be compatible to his larger compadre in personality and skill- ruling out himself, Jim and Tabby all of whom Rude would be rather content in a partnership with. He was still at it when Rude had started up the stairs, so they left in higher spirits than they had met. Neither saw the Turk who replaced John at his post.

When Rude arrive at the top of the stairs he was greeted with a large, dark and deserted corridor and no other direction to go but forward to the next level. Through the centre of the building the main stair case to each level was located with the main corridors coming off like four cross roads. This allowed the sky light to illuminate the staircases as another stained glass dome- this time an illustration of a battle between Shiva and Infrit- covered the ceiling and cast the cold stone in beautiful colours. It also allowed you to appreciate the height of the building, seeing the bottom straight up to the top, interestingly there didn't seem to be a way to the bottom from the ground floor and a matching mosaic of the stained glass had been put into the unused space. Like the corridor it was deserted but it felt peaceful rather than lonely, making Rude pause to take it all in before trudging up the next two levels. As he climbed the stairs the faint sounds of computers and people talking trickled into his range of hearing. Some of the slits under the doors glowed blue where people worked on computers and surveillance. Rude was impressed by the number but it was spooky that he had yet to see anyone yet.

At the third floor two rooms appeared to be used and one was partly open, allowing him to see just enough of three people in suits staring at monitors, all of which appeared to show an infrared scan of the party downstairs. Obviously they were looking out for abnormal heat signatures. He considered it too quiet and calm for Reno to be in the room with them so walked towards the other door, but even without opening the door he thought it too quiet- and he didn't fancy the awkward moment when he would have to ask if they had seen the redhead. Heading back to the stairs he wondered if John had found the others and whether they had gone to dinner. He tightened his grip on the bottle and glasses he remembered to pick up, hoping John and Jim- who had probably drunk quite a bit tonight- weren't noticeably on the tipsy side. He didn't have to be too worried as Tabby probably would notice immediately if they were and make sure they have nothing but water until they got home, however they could still embarrasses themselves.

Stopping at the fourth floor he decided to look around, it was unlikely he was going to run into anyone from this floor up. From the staircase he noticed no light lights were on in any of the corridors but walked round to the north facing one since it had the best view. He went down the full length stopping at the thick window at the end, as he thought the corridor branched out and there were more doors and passages to be found which probably linked the four main corridors together, they hadn't seen the blue prints for the higher floors so he didn't know for sure. At least the floor was carpeted again so he didn't have to make as much effort keeping his footfalls silent and could cover more ground faster. Choosing to go right he began looking for anything that may indicate the redhead had come this way.

After ten minutes he had seen most of the floor and found that indeed the four main corridors were linked by side passages but nothing on the redhead. He went up the next floor and repeated the procedure only to come up short again. The sixth floor yielded the same result, as did the seventh. On the eighth floor however one door, in the middle of a short but thickly decorated side corridor was ever so slightly ajar. It could be considered remarkable Rude even noticed it, and he quickly investigated as it wasn't long to one hundred hours.

Without knocking he gently pushed the door open. Peering inside he immediately spotted the silhouette of somebody sitting crossed legged on a chaise longue with his back to him, looking out the window. The room, like everything on the upper floors, was dark even with the tall window very little light entered, just enough to illuminate anything close to it but Rude could discern enough to know it was a luxury suite, although probably small and basic compared to the rest of the Hotel's standards'.

"Shut the door after ya," Reno said startling Rude, "And wash the glasses in the bathroom." The Silhouette pointed in said bathrooms direction and feeling a bit like a child caught sneaking Rude obeyed, keeping an eye on Reno as he entered and crossed the room. He made sure to shut the door fully.

Flicking the lights on he closed the bathroom door over since it seem the Turk wanted to sit in a dark. He swiftly noted the marble and gold plated theme of the bathroom as well as its compact and functional nature, just a sink, mirror, toilet and shower with one cupboard. As he blasted the glasses with icy water Reno asked, "So what brings you up here? Looking for me?"

"What else?" Rude replied.

He could almost hear the smile in the youth's voice when he spoke again, "Anything suppose, but flattered all the same."

Coming out of the Bathroom with clean, albeit still wet glasses and the alcohol he turned off the lights. He walked over to what he presumed was a dressing table and set everything down. "Have you spent the whole night up here?"

"Most of it," Reno admitted non-chalantly gazing out the window. Rude could see the ShinRa tower and two Mako reactors beyond it and even the mountains outside of Midgar. Not the best view but still pretty good. "Got bored."

"Isn't being in a room by yourself boring?" Rude inquired stepping closer.

Reno shrugged and the rookie noticed he'd somehow managed to be wearing a suit too big for him even for such a formal occasion, "Better than being down there looking like this." The redhead mumbled one bandaged hand reach up to touch matching material still covering his eye and face. Rude didn't realise the kid was actually self conscious about how he looked, from what he'd seen so far the Turk didn't care. "Can I have a drink?" Reno asked hopefully, only now glancing behind him at Rude. The rookie noticed that despite the distance the Mako light still managed to reflect itself brilliantly in the younger man's eyes, it was rather shocking to say the least.

He nodded but warned, "It's powerful."

"I can handle it."

Not believing him and suddenly wondered if the redhead was a minor, he did appear young enough, he was very reserved when filling the glasses but Reno didn't complain when he handed it to him and he even seemed to know what it was. Rude was happy to see him take a tiny sip and savour the flavour, or maybe he just wanted it to last. Wanting to fill the silence, even though the atmosphere was pleasant how it was, he asked, "Is it alright?"

"Yep, woulda called ya stingy but don't want ya getting' into trouble with Tseng and besides it ain't recommended ya have more than this anyway." Reno grinned while Rude paled and put down his glass. The Turk noticed this and smirked, "Don't worry big guy think'll take more than a glass or two of this to get to ya."

Entertained by Reno's presumptuous comment Rude smirked, "You'd know?"

"Do you drink much?" The redhead pressed seriously his attention reverted back to the window so Rude could not see his expression.

He supposed he drank as much as the next man when there was the opportunity but he'd yet to reach his limit, even when there was no restriction on how much they could have in the Academy he'd always controlled himself and not act like a someone fresh out of prison like others. Before then he supposed he'd been too young and none of his adoptive parents ever gave him an alcoholic drink. Overall he guessed he probably he didn't actually drink that much per say.

"No."

Reno sniggered and Rude thought it sounded sort of evil, "You will be... Drinking more that is." He added seeming to sense the confusion he was causing the rookie. He shuffled over allowing enough space for Rude to sit down if he wished and silently requested he did so by patting the seat. It seemed absurd to Rude how someone who seemed in every way much younger than himself was treating him like a child. He took the offer though and Reno slouched back into the head rest, turning to look out the window once more. Now Rude was sitting he could see the youth's thoughtful expression and the rather sad set of his mouth. The faint, sickly light traced the pale skin and white bandages, emphasising the shadows making Reno looking thinner and more vulnerable than necessary. Rude automatically checked the kid's chest was rising and falling, that's when he noticed the rhythm was shallow and uneven but the redhead didn't appear to be in discomfort. It was the first time Rude had seen him so quiet and relaxed. At length the bright blue eyes shifted to look at him from the corner of their sockets. "The party must be awful if ya prefer my company." Reno said laughing and taking another sip.

"What makes you say that?"

The smile dropped away as Reno turned back to the window, "Don't know." Before Rude could think of a reply the redhead nudged him with his foot, "Ya always sit so damn straight?"

"..." He did not but only when he was in familiar company, on his own or just too tired. He didn't see the issue with maintaining good posture.

"Slouched forward or something, looks like ya got a rod stuck up your butt," Reno complained nudging him some more until Rude relaxed his posture, only then did he seem pleased and stopped attacking Rude's thigh. The larger man made a point patting off any possible dirt or dust that could have transverse off the offending shoe.

"Seriously, why were ya looking for me?"

"I ..." He fished round his mind to think of a good reason, "Wanted to congratulate you...properly."

"That ain't it, somethin's bothering ya."

Behind his shades Rude's eyes were wide. How did he know?

This morning it hadn't just been his natural clock that forced his eyes open but the feeling he'd missed something significant the night before but like a dream, what he thought it was had left him with his sleep. Had he not been so exhausted he probably would have spent all night thinking about it as well for he knew it was at the back of his mind somewhere. All the time he'd been packing he'd tried to remember but nothing had come to mind that'd he'd given up. However when John had mentioned Reno to him the nagging feeling he'd been keeping back returned, for some reason thinking the redhead would help him remember.

"Well?" Reno encouraged when he didn't say anything for too long, "This about the fight last night, didn't think ya got a fair exchange? 'Cas in all fairness you wasted all your best moves on everyone else and didn't leave anything for me." The red head pouted although the effect was spoilt quickly by the grin trying to come through. Still his words did touch close to the matter and Rude could feel the answer close at hand.

"I wanted to know your name."

Reno quirked a brow, "Ya weird. Still in the company don't go blabbing it 'kay, makes it harder for 'em to get my files." He winked and Rude wondered how serious he was being, he was still unfamiliar with the organisation of records, whether they were ordered by true name, alias or even by numbers, or a combination but it seemed names were involved.

"...Reno is not something you'd expect." He replied recalling their conversation in the garage, more specifically the redhead's comments on his and names of other rookies.

"Still better than Rude," the other replied with a sing-song tone. "By the way dat short for anything?"

"Is Reno?"

"...touché," Reno smiled again, " So is it short for, Rudolph? Rudi? Rudolstiltskin? Rudole? Rudaldo? Rudodo? Rudisimo..." Rude chuckled silently, shaking his head at the younger's persistence and increasing absurdness while thinking this was probably the longest he'd heard him stay on one subject, and he seemed very entertained by the occupation of mutilating the rookie's name. Amused himself he stayed silent until Reno had exhausted his mind of almost every conceivable and far-fetched rendition of Rude's name in ten minutes, none of which were right. "...Take it they ain't it?" The redhead knew very well they weren't but if he wanted to act cheeky Rude was not inclined to stop him.

"No."

"Wanna stretch my name?"

"No."

"Aww," Reno complained and nudged Rude's knee yet again, "no fun."

Sensing Reno was distracting himself from the real reason he was up here alone and more importantly the conversation was close to moving away from something that help him remember what was nagging him he asked, "Are you the only Reno then?" The question earned him first a funny look as if he was stupid for even asking and then a 'well duh' kind of nod, Rude took that as a yes but it still wasn't helping, maybe he'd just have to get over the feeling as Reno was getting bored of the topic. "I see."

Neither talked for a while after that, the red head went back to his window gazing and Rude was content to watch him or glance out the window himself. He did end up leaning back, stretching his arm along the back of the couch and relaxing somewhat, it made it easier to watch Reno and the goings-on of the city. The Turk, maybe in an act to annoy him, proceeded to kick off his shoes and rest his feet in Rude's lap as if he was just a pillow. However Rude didn't mind at all, be barely noticed they were there despite the bony ankles that he shifted to a more comfortable place and at least the red head had the courtesy to take off his shoes so Rude didn't worry about dirt on his trousers. Despite the actions of the intruding feet Rude's sharpness caught the ever so slight glint of guilt in the other's face that he guessed was plaguing the redhead's conscious. Somewhere in the room the ticking of a clock grew louder, demanding they stop wasting the time.

Eventually he worked up the nerve to ask, "...What is bothering _you_?"

Reno didn't respond immediately, didn't react at all and for a moment Rude wondered if the young man had gone to sleep with his eyes open, in a quiet room like this there was no way he had not been heard. Slowly the blue, shining eyes looked at him again, "I've read all the files," He mumbled but Rude didn't understand what that meant, what files? "All your rookies files," Reno continued, the smirk (although there was something a little dark about it,) creeping back onto his face, "I know everything 'bout ya, and who ya going to be partnered with-" At this point Rude wanted to interrupt but the other didn't pause and he held his tongue "-Tell me why ya second to Mr Model?"

Examining the expression in the eyes looking up at him Rude analysed their meaning before replying, "You know."

"Seen the footage of ya exams but I can't read minds."

Rude just shrugged; there was not much to say that the Turk hadn't seen for himself, he sacrificed marks helping others. As he believed before even being picked to take the exams, he knew what he could and could not do in circumstances he was accustomed to, not that he was completely confident in his abilities but he did not need care for another judge's opinion of him. As the saying goes he was his harshest critic. He supposed now the situation was very different and there were more unknowns he'd have to face and he would still be learning only now when he probably wouldn't mind a mentor to ask how he could do better next time there probably would not be one, typically. Reno surprisingly seemed to understand or at least nodded like he did. "Ah well ya showed everyone and ya weren't too shabby in ya last written exam."

_THAT WAS IT_. Now he remembered the first time he'd heard of Reno was on the exam board with the unreal high score. His first image of what Reno could look like, his own and his friend's speculations about him, they couldn't have got further from the truth, unless, "Was there someone else called Reno before?" He didn't think twice about the question, Reno had been looking at him much the way Kyo had looked at Shady earlier for he knew the penny had dropped for Rude – not hard as the rookie had not bothered to conceal his feelings when he made the connection and most likely if the youth had been monitoring everyone then he probably had a good idea of their misconceptions.

"Nope."

"So you..."

Reno nodded happily, "ya got me."

"But how..."

The blue eyes rolled and the smirk morphed into a fond smile, "Now there's a story."

"I'd like to hear it." Rude replied nestling a little more into the couch to give Reno his undivided attention. Surprise and uncertainty crossed the red head's bandaged face; he seemed to want to say something but changed his mind. Rude wondered if he'd tried to avoid the topic but abruptly the younger man grinned mischievously and Rude knew he was going to be told at least something.

"Sure we got the _time_, but I don't want to go into the details, you okay with the bones?"

"Certainly."

"Alright," Reno replied sitting up and crossing his legs, "Well my official integration into the Turks finishes tonight-" Rude, again almost interrupted to express his confusion but controlled himself, it'd be revealed in time if he didn't encourage the other to get distracted, "-and last year I did the written exam. Ain't no big deal, I'm not super clever or nothin' my mental maths is terrible," He gave Rude a friendly smile inviting the big man to give one in return, "anyway 'cas they kept looking for excuses to hold me back I hacked into reception and looked at the test- nearly got the reception killed when they thought she'd breached security and she still doesn't like me. That's pretty much it, I figured all the answers out and as I had time to read it I noticed ya didn't have to do pages five to ten and some other big chunks so there wasn't that much ya had ta do. It was really about processing under pressure ya know. I got a hundred percent so they figured I musta cheated so they took a bunch of marks off me for getting caught still kept my place on the board though. Congratulations to you for being the first highest score that didn't cheat and answering all the questions ya didn't have to, much more impressive."

Rude remained quiet, processing a) Reno had cheated, b) he'd nearly got someone killed doing so, c) Reno could hack into the system, which he actually thought was more impressive d) He had wasted time in the exam answering questions that didn't need answering (he felt very foolish) and e) Reno was now waving a hand in his face. He caught the hand, it was soft and cold.

"Did I upset ya big guy?"

"No."

"Good," Reno's cheerfulness ended with that word and the uncertainty returned, "Hey can I ask ya somethin'?"

"What?"

"Why'd ya wanna be a Turk?"

Strange question, Rude thought, surely it was better asked to someone like Jim or John or Tabby between the four of them he looked like it was something he'd would naturally want to do but he guessed it be polite to humour the redhead who had answered his question, "I wish to be useful."

"Ya can be useful doing loads of stuff, ya were in the Soldier program and they get all the exciting work, why'd ya give it up?"

"..." He wasn't sure if he wanted to mention his personal reason's or bring up Youji, it was in the past after all and he had wanted to start a fresh chapter in his life unburdened by the scars of the past. Yet Reno was looking at him so earnestly and his eyes had become huge like a puppies, he gave up any resistance, "Youji wanted me to become a Turk, he said it was better than being in Solider and my talents were better suited for it besides, he said the pay was good." He chuckled at the last bit but the redhead wasn't laughing, or smiling or even looking at him. Yet again he was looking at the stupid window as if something the rookie told him had bothered him. A little annoyed he carried on and if the Turk wasn't listening he was not going to repeat himself, "I want to get stronger, to protect the people and die with honour some day." He concluded echoing some the words of a hero in one of the stories his late master had told him when he was young and he had taken to heart.

"Well that's dumb," Reno commented yawning, "There ain't no honourable way ta die. When ya dead ya dead."

Already irritated the redhead tone didn't sit well with him but when the youth flopped back down- legs still crossed so he looked very uncomfortable- Rude noticed again his expression had returned to a thoughtful melancholy state, enough to sap the bigger man's annoyance, there was no point being angry with someone who probably wouldn't respond and right then the Turk looked like he could lie there all night. He hadn't thought about it but Reno should probably be in the infirmary or something, he hadn't been fit to be out yesterday and all the exertion of last night may well have undone weeks of healing. Besides Mako based medicine as wonderful as it was, too much of it was probably bad for the system in the long run and more importantly could compromise ones natural ability to heal. He knew enough about Reno now to guess he was naturally energetic and probably a little proud of the fact, his mood lapses were most likely linked to his weak state. Indeed he hadn't moved from the long chair since Rude's arrival and only drank half of his drink, it was enough to make Rude feel bad for him. Still he wanted to know why the Reno felt there was no honourable way to die but before he could get the words out the door burst open.

"_**There...**_ you are!" Marko breathed out angrily. He paused to catch his breath and see just who was in the room, "I've been trying every door in this damn Hotel looking for you. Can't you tell the time? It's half past one!" He glowered at the pair some more expecting a response but Reno didn't appear like he wanted to move and Rude was unsure what to say. "Well come on!"

Standing Rude smoothed out his suit, turning to Reno he asked, "Coming?"

"Yeah, yeah," The Turk said stretching languidly, "Better had before messenger boy gets his knickers in a twist." His narrowed eyes watched the man by the door bristle with satisfaction, then with unexpected grace and swiftness he leaped from the couch and retrieved his shoes.

"_Hurry up_," Marko growled obviously internally raging at their dawdling, "Rude come on already!"

Rude only frowned at Marko but a push on his calf made him look down, Reno was tying his shoes laces by his feet, "Go ahead I'll catch up."

"But-"

"Leave him and let's go, NOW!" Marko ordered looking venomously at Reno. Seeing he was only making the situation worse by waiting Rude complied but he wasn't expecting Marko to slam the door shut and lock it as soon as he was in the Corridor.

"What are you doing?" He asked, making a grab for the key but Marko quickly back stepped out of reached and dodged Rude's other efforts, before heading back to the main stair case. Rude didn't follow, he tried to slam the door open but the locks held fast and he discovered painfully the doors were steel covered in plaster. On the other side Reno was also realising he'd been locked in but whatever he was yelling Rude couldn't hear.

Angered and confused he raced after Marko intent on grabbing the key and getting an explanation later, _what was the bastard thinking?_ When he reached the staircase Marko was already two flights below, waving the key tauntingly behind him up at Rude, like a matador waggling a red cape at a bull. Although Rude's expression was stoic his pounding steps hitting the marble, booming in the large space made it quite clear he was furious, so furious Marko kept a flight of stairs between them all the way down and only risked Rude getting close when they were at the party again where the large rookie daren't make a scene. He had no choice then but to follow Marko to the ceremony while quietly seething. Still he had time to try for an explanation.

"Why did you lock him in the room?"

"I've done everyone a favour haven't I? That pest will only make things drag on and besides if he's already a Turk there's no need for him to be there." Rude did not look impressed. "Fine, I'll give you the key and you can let him out afterward. Happy?" Marko sneered, "Why were you up there with him anyway?" Rude didn't reply, "You'd do well to not associate yourself with someone like that, my brother has enough lousy friends he doesn't need you attracting more."

"You're just jealous he keeps showing you up."

Marko whipped round, for moment it seemed he would punch Rude but he didn't. Instead he turned back and kept walking. Rude did not hassle him anymore, he had the promise of the key and within the hour he hoped to get Reno out and if Tseng asked where the redhead was he wouldn't hesitate telling the truth. They entered the wedding room in a hostile silence so tangible a couple of people around the entrance stepped back. Marko immediately went over to his place at the front where Doug and Marko were saving him a seat in the cushioned pews on the right. He shot one last dirty look at Rude as he sat down. Veld was at the front along with Hana and Maya who appeared just to have been partnered. He didn't find that surprising. After a few low spoken words from Veldt the pair went to the pews on the left side where Tick and Eden where seated by themselves. Rude noticed then that only the rookies were seated and everyone else around him were Turks. Feeling self conscious he looked around and spotted Tabby and Jim between two heads, trying to subtly (although they didn't pull it off) see where he was since Marko had returned.

"Is it true that guy locked Red in one of the rooms?" Trent asked, Rude somehow had not sensed his large frame beside him and he was doubly surprised by the man's question.

"Yes, how did you-" The rest of his query was rendered unnecessary when the Turk stepped back and one his other side Reno gave him a peace sign sticking out his tongue as he did, his bandages were now filthy and he was covered in white dust and dirty grey fluff.

_How in the planet did he get there before them?_

Guessing what he was thinking, Reno pointed up at the wall, more specifically at a rectangular hole which had to lead to the ventilation system. Still that didn't tell him how he got there so fast. Nevertheless he smiled at the redhead who was pleased with himself. Veld called up Ricky and Rude paused curious as to who the man would end up with and wondered if it would be one of his friends as he was closest to their level.

Veld asked Robin to stand up next. Rude wasn't the only one who was taken aback, he scanned the rookies to see Lithia and though she seemed to be taking it professionally she was a little too tense in her seat.

"Maybe you should sit down," Trent whispered to him again, "Veld knows your here but it's odd you're still standing." Rude didn't argue with this, "Oh and take the kid with ya, crawling in those vents didn't do him any good."

Shuffling past Trent Rude silently grabbed the sleeve of Reno's suit and pulled him firmly along, not giving the other a chance to say no. Trent seemed to approve of this action. Going down the far left aisle he got to the pews where the 'leftover' were sat traditionally at the back and slid in next to Tabby. He couldn't be inconspicuous but he was quiet and didn't interrupt Veld as he called for Shady to stand and announce his partner as Eden.

Reno looked around him and whispered to Tabby, "Meeeeow Tabby Cat, you scrub up well."

Rude, not too gently shoved him back as the poor woman blushed terribly. He didn't even look to see Veld give a disapproving glance at the pair of them.

Next Veld called Jim up. The oldest rookie stood looking nervous as he quickly straightened his collar, "Show time," he muttered giving them a weak smile. After the shock partnership of Ricky and Robin it seemed everyone was unsure on who they would end up with. However Veld called out John soon after, so surprised but pleased John followed Jim up the central aisle. Veld said a few words to them before they took seats on the other side.

Freaya and Manube were partnered after that, then Doug and Jordo, leaving only Rude, Tabby, Kureno, Kito, Lithia and Marko to be partnered up. Kureno was summoned and Rude for a moment wondered if his name would be next until his remembered his previous guess which to him was more likely, and he was right. After a dramatic pause, something Veld was getting rather fond of as the un-partnered rookies sweated in the pews, Arisa was called to stand opposite Kureno. Rude didn't like to be too presumptuous but the woman looked incredibly pleased with the outcome and Kureno looked rather delighted as well, although the man would probably have looked delighted with whoever he ended up with, he was just that sort of guy.

Lithia went up next and again Rude thought everyone had a equal chance at being partnered with the woman, he wouldn't mind. However Kito was the chosen one. The bald man shared a look with Tabby, and she smiled at him since it seemed very likely they'd end up together- although there was Marko to consider but surely he'd get snapped up by Turk since his paperwork was the most glowing of them all.

"Tabby, please come to the front." Veld commanded.

She gave Rude's hand a light squeeze as she stood; the soft black gloves hid the moisture in her hot palms but did nothing to disguise her excited yet also nervous shaking. She practically skipped to the front eyes wide with fright; it was enough for Veld to drop his serious look for an instant as fatherly amusement flashed across.

"You shall be partnered with..."

Anxiously Tabby bounced on the balls of her feet. Rude tensed in his seat, ready to stand. Reno sighed.

"Lyon."

_What_! Was collectively thought by most if not all of the rookies, as the Turk walked proudly to the little altar and in a gentlemanly way took the hand of the tentative woman who just gaped bug eyed at him before giving a similarly alarmed look at the Commander and then her friends. When her eyes fell on Rude her horror increased as she saw the large man's likely fate. She was led wordlessly to the right side pews without registering what Veld had said, Rude supposed she was probably fortunate she had an experienced Turk as a partner but that didn't mean he was any happier about it.

"May the last two come forward."

With leaden legs Rude slowly rose, his chest was suddenly heavy as if his reluctance to accept reality was chaining him to the spot. Marko was even less keen to step forward.

"'Splains why he was picked to fetch ya'" Reno whispered thoughtfully. Rude glanced back at him hoping for some reassurance but the redhead just looked bored. Feeling the eyes behind the shades on him Reno smirked and playfully, but discretely, shoved the large man saying o-so-helpfully, "faster ya shallow the sooner it's over."

"But the taste still lingers," Rude muttered glumly but he did move reaching Veld the same time as Marko. Mutal dislike radiated between the two men and the commander seemed to be having second thoughts on their partnership as he tried to give them both an encouraging smile. Rude noted off to the side Tseng was looking on with an unreadable expression and he suddenly remembered the bouncy ball he still had in his jacket pocket.

"Now," Veld said quietly but firmly, his words only for the reluctant duo, "as I told everyone else it may help your partnership if you consider why we believed you would function efficiently together, for some the answer is clearer than others-" _you got that right _"- and some only realise it in time. Starting tomorrow you will be stationed on the nineteenth floor with Freaya and Manube to look through past records of stock bought for our space exploration projects, we have been conducting an investigation into missing materials unfortunately Palmer was unable to inform exactly what he thought was missing. You are to gather and summarise what the company stocked, against what was actually used and the waste, hopefully this information will clear up the matter," The Turk rolled his eyes indicating this wasn't the first time his department had done this, he added tiredly, "if stock has indeed gone missing report back. Also Ricky and Robin will be questioning people in the space department so they should also be informed if you find anything that you believe will be useful to them."

Simultaneous the rookies bowed their heads and took their seats; Marko scowling as soon as he turned away from the commander and pointedly sat an arm's length from Rude, which suited the latter just find. Immediately he sort out his friends, as he expected Jim and Tabby were giving him wordless condolences however John appeared torn between horror for Rude's situation and shooting an oblivious Lyon dirty looks. Such behaviour was enough to distract the dread building up at the thought of working with Marko possibly until one of them croaked, as he wondered what offense the golden maned Turk could have given his friend to rival John's hatred of his brother. Nothing leapt to mind so he sort out Reno across the room but to his dismay the redhead had disappeared again, actually so had the second-in-command along with a couple of other Turks how'd hung around. Regardless of the declined audience Veld still went on with his petty speech about teamwork, survival, hard work etc. The words fell on deaf ears for Rude and his partner who, although doing a marvellous effort in hiding it, was sulking furiously. Insulted, for Rude felt he was the one with the right to be upset by this outcome more than the other man; he widened the gap between them so by the end of Veld's paternal sermon they were seated as far apart as their pew would let them.

Yeah Rude really could _see_ this working out.

They were dismissed and Marko was the first to get up and storm out, quickly followed by his lackeys although Rude couldn't fathom why they'd want to get an ear bashing from their leader because that's all he could imagine was in store for them. Jim and John headed straight over to him and Tabby turned in her seat, apologising to Lyon who asked why she wasn't leaving yet.

"Man, sucks to be you," Jim said in his custom tact.

"_Jim_," Tabby scolded, "Don't say such things you're only making this worse."

"Seems pretty rock bottom to me anyway," John grumbled off the side and Rude wondered what exactly the man was commenting on.

Jim huffed, "Well sometimes you just have to face facts, although Wonder boy didn't seemed pleased either. Tch, cheek! Getting our Rude all to himself and turning his nose up like that." Rude which Jim could phrase himself better before he found the older man suddenly in his face saying passionately, "But you'll show him, just like you did last night! Make sure he never looks down on you!"

"So you're telling him never sit down around my brother?" John commented dryly while Tabby raised her hands in a surrendering gesture seeing how his tone was only exciting their older friend more.

"Don't use that voice in a situation like this; this is our friend's life we're talking about here!" Jim cried waving his arms, "What is with that face! We've been there for you when you've been down show some compassion."

"Really you two..."

"Alright, but I don't see how making a scene is helping, if anything your making it worse by embarrassing him." John hissed before turning to Rude, "If it helps I'll make sure our door is always open for you."

"Huh!?" Jim paused in his flailing to stare at John confusedly, "What do you mean our door? We don't live together."

"We do now," John explained matter-of-factly, "I heard Arisa explaining it to Kureno, in the morning we collect our stuff from that place and take it into our new apartments. Partners are expected to live together since it conserves space and helps the er....relationship."

Jim nodded slowly as the meaning sunk in then abruptly said with sparkling eyes, "I've always wanted a roommate, don't worry our relationship will blossom beautifully-" just as suddenly he turned on Rude face changing from delight to anguish, "I'm doubly sorry for you, please take our sofa."

Rude felt tempted to take up the offer, partly because living with Marko was making the dread within him heavier but mostly to stop Jim's embarrassing theatrics, he swore the man was getting worse the longer he knew him.

Lyon coughed, the sound was followed by a long awkward silence as the Rookies registered he'd been standing in the middle of them the whole time and they'd been yelling around him. Rude shook his head thankfully they were the only ones left in the chapel.

"Tabby I think we should go now, it'll be good to try and get some rest before tomorrow."

Tabby blushed when Lyon took her hand to pull her out of the pews at last and away from the rest of them, "Erm, where am I going to sleep though?"

"I took the liberty of getting your things sent to our apartment, everything should be ready for you when you arrive and you can sleep in your bed," Lyon explained, letting the rookies wonder who did the labour and how the Turk could arrange stuff like that, but most importantly informing them that Lyon knew his partner would be Tabby. As Lyon led the confused woman out, she didn't seem able to do much than stare at him and stammer out questions- Rude recalled Arisa mentioned Turks getting a partner could chose who they wanted and realised Lyon must have requested Tabby, but why?

He didn't know if that fact had dawned on the others but John was now looking like he could boil an egg on his face as he growled something about pushiness and smugness. He seemed very upset that Lyon was Tabby's partner. Jim finally seemed to see this as well.

"Something wrong partner?"

"Nope," John fumed, "everything is just peachy, if you'll excuse I need a drink." He marched off leaving Rude and Jim stunned.

"Did I say something?"

Rude shrugged having lost the plot a while back.

Jim smirked sadly, "That Rioz blood is pretty hot, looks like we've got our work cut out with our partners." He sighed and collapsed on the pew beside Rude, "Hey, tell me if I'm being weird here but was it me or did John seem a little annoyed at Lyon for being Tabby's partner. I mean I thought he was happy with me, I didn't realise he had a preference between us." Rude shook his head he didn't think it was like that at all, if anything he'd say their friend had a prejudice against the Turk. "You don't think so, but he was antsy since the man's name was called he nearly squeezed my face off when I almost yelled out at the time as well, like he was wishing it was the guys neck." He rubbed his cheeks, "Hurt too....Hey you don't suppose-I mean Lyon's a okay guy but you don't think-"

"He's got his eye on that timid thing?"

"UWAHHHHHH," Jim rocketed from his seat, backward somersaulting over the pew in front, while his –alarming high pitched- scream echoed in the smallish room.

Rude calmly checked Jim was still alive before looking behind him at Rufus lounging across the pews as if he'd been there for awhile. The young man flicked at the lick of hair that had fallen into of his left eye and smiled smugly, enjoying the reaction his sudden appearance had on at least one rookie. Rude just looked at him until he let out a not-so-innocent "What?"

Getting up Rude wordlessly assisted the helpless Jim back to his feet, but his friend soon sunk into the pew he fell over nursing his head and groaning. Rude dusted him off and held the man's nose at the bridge, tilting it back as a little stream of blood started to come out. Rufus observed them with amusement and Jim in a funny voice mumbled, "What's a kid doing here?" It seemed Jim had registered the child's voice but not the owner of it; this only pleased the president's boy more.

"I came looking for your large friend actually," Replied Rufus smoothly swinging his legs round to sit up in his seat and look directly at Rude with knowing eyes, "I thought I recognised you, you're the one that fought Reno yesterday. Don't feel bad that you lost, it was inevitable."

Rude lowered his brow a silent request for an explanation so Rufus elaborated in the same know-it-all manner. "He has a knack of getting through situations he shouldn't. You see my father has been trying to get rid of him from the moment he entered the company, which partly explains the dreadful state he is in now. Unfortunately for my father's intention to use Reno as an expendable has resulted in quite the opposite and despite his...unpredictability shall we say, Reno is now considered an indispensible asset at least as much as the next Turk anyway. So for all your training I knew you couldn't compete with that." He concluded as if that explained everything and topped it off by standing immediately after, "I hope to see you again Turk, do try not to get yourself killed until then." ith a dismissive wave he elegantly left the room.

"Who's Reno?" Jim asked when the door shut. Rude didn't answer as he helped the man to his feet.

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**Okay this is one of those chapters that I had a vague idea what I wanted to do with it and then when it came to actually writing it, basic events remained the same but the feel/tone didn't come across. I also feel that someone may call me up on bad grammar and maybe spelling - I say this everytime and I am trying to see all the mistakes but for some reason I miss loads. I do proof read my stuff honest! Erm another thing on this chapter is I'll say it pretty much wrote itself - I know that doesn't make sense but what I mean is I wasn't agnosing over sentences/paragraphs and I haven't re-written it at all which has been a first for a while for me, but then I didn't fancy re-doing 24 pages so there maybe evidence of laziness and/or weird parts that may not flow like water even after I touched them up. All in all I am happy with the writing practise and it'd be doubly great if you enjoyed it as well. **

**Also I hope Reno wasn't OOC, I still have a hard time writing him. Lastly Rude will give the ball back in the next chapter...**

**If you would like to all comments and reviews are most wlecome ^_^**


	14. Paper Mountains

A/N: Hello again, hope everyone had a lovely Easter and I would just like to again thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'm sorry if I failed to get back to any of you, I can sometimes forget who I have and hadn't respond to but I always appreciate responses and feedback, as I keep saying it means a lot to me.  
A big THANK YOU to Charlie. O who beta read this chapter for me 8D.

This Chapter feels a bit..well I'll say faster than usual, probably different, I tried something different - just thought I'd warn you about it ^^:

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It is not worth telling how Rude awoke that morning. Nor to talk of how the dark, grey light signalled the arrival of the sun through the consistently dense clouds as usual, or how the fledgling Turk took an unusual moment contemplating that he had never seen a clear sky in Midgar, while his tired body selfishly desired to stay embraced by the deep mattress, cushioned in its luxurious texture. Probably shouldn't mention the amount of conviction required for him to haul himself ungracefully to the edge and roll reluctantly onto the soft carpet dragging the feather duvet and silken sheets with him either. Let's not be bored by Rude's tedious morning scrutiny of the expensive room or his other rituals from dressing to breakfast. (By the way he briefly met Jim and John in the hotel's fine restaurant where they breakfasted together. He decided then, while he was somewhat sure Marko had yet to make an appearance to get back to ShinRa before his partner. He barely noticed John was still in the irritable mood from the party last night, possibly from a hangover. ) However it would be wise to mention the President in his wisdom had allowed those of his company attending the previous nights function to spend the night at the hotel, well he _had_ invested a considerable proportion of his company's security in the building for the night.

Let's skip to Rude walking alone along the dusty streets of Midgar. On the top plate he was currently progressing across, life was still slower compared to the activity going on a mile or two under his feet. He could practically feel the mass of strangers bustling and jostling each other and their collective voice a humming in the background. That they could make their presence known when metres of thick steel and large gaps between the plates separated them was impressive. Still the top plate was also waking up and soon the voices below would be drowned out by the extensive construction works. If he listened for it, he would hear the tireless engines of the trains rumbling their way along the tracks, clunking, scraping and rattling to make the awful racket that was anything but ignorable when a train went passed and everything shook. It wasn't reassuring when you thought that steel rods and brick, if not tied down or affixed properly were vulnerable to coming lose and raining from above if jostled too much. Then again train or no train the danger was a prominent one and encouraged everyone out to be quick about their business. As far as the eye could see steel girders patterned the townscape, reaching high over the buildings like metal branches, many had cranes perches on or alongside them. Together with the other metallic structures it seemed to form a protective fence around the protruding company tower in the centre of the city. Today, the unyielding thunderous clanging, beating and hissing of machinery within the nearby reactor combined with the eerie blue-green glow of the others was more potent than usual for the cities night lights were steadily switching off and there was still time for the top level civilians to emerge. It was that short time of day when somehow it seemed a little darker than night and Midgar was a lonely, dying place.

The mood passed as soon as the factories and shops, eager to bring in the gil, started business as usual. The clatter of people pouring from the stations and through the streets quickly drowned out all other uncomfortable sounds making the ensuing chaos welcoming. However, unlike the times before when he was just a civilian or in training, he wore the distinguishing blue suit of his department. So now - as if there was an invisible bubble around him- people parted and hurried to maintain a wide berth between themselves and him. It made a change to being swept away in the living tide. Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't experienced this treatment before, but only on the lower plates or training missions where there had been some conscious attempt to intimidate people with their aura of authority. The blue suit and all the connotations that went with it meant no extra effort was required, even the street police and ordinary troops seemed to turn away as he passed. It felt empowering. He wasn't overjoyed about being quite so conspicuous against the usually dull and dreary colour scheme of Midgar, even on the brighter top plate, the bright material was eye catching.

Despite the good things Turks did for people ultimately the rumours of murdering, kidnapping and espionage were the ones that stuck in people's minds. SOLIDERS were the heroes; the Turks were a necessary evil. Rude knew better, they'd learnt in the academy that their unpleasant tasks were for the ultimate good and maintenance of the community. Many of the people who feared him now slept safe at night because of the work he would do. SOLDIER could only operate with the Turk's help, without them they would not have the status they had now. If Midgar and ShinRa were machines the Turks were what kept them running smoothly along with the other jobs that they had to do. Those that appreciated this tended to want to become Turks, like Youji. He appreciated everyone had their own reasons; some did not have a choice. He was not annoyed by the populations' ignorance, it did not matter what they thought of him; besides it made getting to ShinRa tower much faster.

Stepping through the high security entrance, his new I.D. card's signal registering without him even having to swipe it was a pleasing and practical convenience he noted. Standing within the large, but not overly so, foyer he took a big breath of the cool corporate air. Calmed to find the entrance was just like it always was: bright, professional and -decoration aside- very unlike the rest of the building inaccessible to normal civilians. However he quickly found that the ever present secretaries and female assistants, (who had once not turned a hair at his presence) do a quick scan with their eyes before standing a little straighter. A couple behind the desk whispered to each other, flicking glances at him making it obvious what they were talking about. Crossing the entrance and heading towards the stairs he watched their chain of whispering spread across to their co-workers. As he was trained to do he watched their body language, noting as each in turn relaxed and wondered what it said about him that the sight of him instilled unease but a couple of words blew it away. Really it was a testament to the women's vigilance, the silent exchange reminiscent of a pride of lions unsure about the return of a long lost member; they each planned to do a quick rerun of the rookie's faces within the hour.

Without further excitement Rude ascended the stairs, passed a man in a suit as he stepped into the elevator and consulted his PHS where he knew they'd all received instructions that morning. Most had been to collect their things by the afternoon at the latest then go to their assigned tasks, easy. He was thankful they included maps and general location for not only the storage facilities but where their rooms would be. Of course employee's residence was not within the tower, although apparently there had been some plans and confusion about that. Eventually most people found their own places anyway – well, you know when the buildings were actually built- not that it made much difference so others didn't bother. _Usually_ those in military divisions or in the Turks stayed since they practically lived in their offices or barracks anyway they might as well stay as well connected as possible.

He hit the button to the floor as directed but according to the directions he still had a confused and fugitive journey ahead of him between floors 20 and 24. It took a moment to occur to him that he could simply ignore the directions so long as he remembered the way he'd gone with Kyo yesterday. He hoped that in future their directions would not be given by someone who thought they had to map out every conceivable route – this was what caused Rude the initial incomprehension- while using jargon that probably only seasoned employees were privy. Quarter of an hour later found him before the gloomy caretaker of their belongings, he absently wondered what the actual name of the man's job was and presented his ID so the number could be noted. The man was in exactly the same humour as yesterday but Rude wanted to think he was in a less suspicious frame of mind, it was hard to tell but at least he got his things quickly.

Next task was locating the apartment. He opted to go via the basement and use the passages now accessible to get to the apartment complex. He quite fancied the cold metal rabbit warrens which must be between the passage Kyo and he had used above the sewers. Upon reflection he had to wonder how the plate, the support pillar between the two plates and the tower was able to have so much within them. Having so many extra passages for vehicles and people was not only complicated to get ones head around – even with virtual maps- but it very much distorted his view on the size of Midgar. Still from hearsay he doubted the secret network was anywhere near Juon's level, the structure of Midgar ultimately limited how far it could go. A couple of metal sliding doors later and he stood in the narrow steel duct which would eventually bring him to the apartment buildings, one hoped.

Cool air naturally blasted mournfully through the low, rectangular tunnel. As it was hitting him in the face he was positive he was heading away from the tower since air would have to be coming in from the edges of the plate. It was certainly lonely and very dark, UV or florescent lighting for some reason had been chosen to light these passages but the circuits were very sensitive and programmed incorrectly. A majority of the time they were off until the whole duct rattled frightening when -what could only be- a train passed overhead and they flickered on and off revealing the tunnel's bleak monotony. It was not surprising he did not meet anyone else coming this way and he vowed he'd walk top side or risk getting run over in future; even the sewers seemed like a nicer alternative.

Rude would not say he was a coward and would admit there had been something vaguely exhilarating about that environment but he knew it was folly to be in a place so dark you couldn't see your own hands, with fast cold wind rendering sense of smell useless, filling a numbing nose with dust and his ears with nothing but it's whistling. It was a place you could very easily become prey in. Worse still he could imagine many terrible things making themselves at home there. Such a place demanded you recalled the horror stories adults told children to make them behave. Every time the lights came on and off he dreaded the thought of some monster appearing suddenly in the interval but he didn't let frightful fancies scare him. At all times he had one arm ready to punch anything unexpected in the face. Of course he examined when possible the walls and floor for any sign that something else could be there. He had seen nothing, no scratches, bones, blood, anything, just dusty steel and darkness. It was luck more than anything that a train passed over just as he was reaching the point where the door out would be. Normally it would have a light over it but that too was broken. It didn't matter Rude had already decided the first door he came to he was getting out, it was just fortunate it was the door he needed.

He was stone faced when the door slide open and blanking the surprised reactions of some men betting in what had to be the apartment block's garage he strode out as if it was all perfectly natural. Again, a moment must be given to congratulate the suit for saving his life. The sight of blue caused a man –who'd been quick to draw his gun- reason to pause and then lower his weapon. Rude headed in a direction he hoped would lead him to the front desk. He did not look back to see the men abandon their card game to examine the wall.

Following signs Rude easily located the elevators for the apartment complex. Even from the garage he was heavily reminded of the ShinRa building, it shared the President's known appreciation for simplicity and basics when it came to decoration but had invested in some concrete, bricks and paint as well. The entrance hall was at least more homely than the tower's but still screamed with modern, open design and space efficiency. The floor wasn't tiled as he'd almost expected but covered in a fine, dark, polished wood. To his right the metal desk rose high above the porter's head who had to be sitting, he couldn't see them but knew they were there because of the light but busy tapping of fingers on a keyboard. Long, thin tubes of neon light accented the rim of the desk, strips in the painted walls and even parts of the floor making markers for the zones in the room. Blue for the Elevators, Green for the desk, red for the little lounging area and he was going to guess that the light whites around a door lead to a mailroom for something. The Elevators were set apart, in a rectangular cubbyhole and better lit than the rest of the ground floor that he could see. As he stepped out he glanced up to find the telltale lines and indents in the entrance way to the foyer where no doubt a bomb-proof shield would slid into to block infiltrators ever using the elevators if the building came under siege. Rude while approving of the foresight pondered if they would come in necessary, with the ShinRa tower practically next door what kind of terrorists would target some employees living quarters. Besides he knew the general public had no idea buildings like this one housed ShinRa workers, even he didn't know until this morning. The Academy was more likely to get attacked. Not that he was criticizing, simply evaluating the level of risk.

General gloom and economical neon lighting aside, the fresh painted walls – whatever colour they were- and clean rugs added a much needed informal touch that let Rude know he hadn't ended up in some seedy, uptown bar. Approaching the high desk the top of someone's blonde head gradually became more visible. It was a man, not terribly old as far as Rude could make out but probably older than himself. He was rather fortunate he was so tall and the high desk barely impaired his ability to assess the man before he was standing right in front of him. Like other ShinRa employees the desk man was sensitive to the slightest noise, even the light tread of a properly trained Turk so it wasn't surprising that he abruptly stood as soon as the green light touched Rude's suit.

"Good Morning sir," He said with a smile far too bright to be real in a setting this dark and at this hour of the day. Well it wasn't that early Rude supposed but something had put him in an irritable mood, possibly the unusual lie in that must have sent his biological clock into a fit or the unavoidable fact that he would be living with Marcus from this day on. Of course he wasn't contemplating reasons for his mood, but rather thinking this the plain individual before him was being inconsiderately bubbly and he wasn't impressed by the man's obvious dye job either. "I take it you're moving in." The man laughed lightly, eye's flickering at the three boxes Rude had perfectly balanced one on top of the other in one arm. Somehow the fresh Turk had forgotten all about them but now that they'd been brought to his attention they suddenly gained a couple of pounds in weight and just as suddenly his left arm burned. Rude glared as he nodded but it was lost behind his shades and because he was still standing predominantly outside the reach of the neon lights. "Okay then, may I please have your I.D. and I'll enter in the codes so you can get into your room. It will only take a moment."

It took a couple of minutes actually, but who's counting? Rude swapped the boxes to his other arm while he waited, unaware that his brooding presence was making the porter nervous. The awkward tension really wasn't improving the Turk's mood, nor was the quiet buzzing that always came with neon lights or the way the clicking of stroked keys on the keyboard echoed in the foyer. Rude started to get impatient, not that you could tell. He was considering an act of vandalism to release his aggravation, punching a hole in the wall sounded appealing and he may well have done it if something hadn't come to distract him from his unspeakable frustration.

"Yo rookie didn't think we'd run into you so soon." Twisting forty five degrees Rude directed his attention to the dark corner that somehow had escaped his noticed before. He blamed the poor lighting and his shades for making it worse, he still couldn't make out the shadowy figure but had no trouble identifying who the voice belonged to. "Who'd a thought we would end up in the same complex, pretty cool coincidence, eh? We don't get many of those do we?" Kyo directed the last comment to the man behind the desk who indulged one of those 'private joke' smiles.

"Don't be dumb," Trent's gruffer voice said before the largest Turk ambled from the shadows and stood companionably beside Rude, "There aren't many of us so the odds were less than fifty, fifty most of the recruits would be in our building."

"Is everyone here in the department?" Rude asked before better judgement stopped his tongue. At least they knew what he meant by 'the department' - as in the Turks.

"Most I'd say." Trent, as always, helpfully divulged but the way he scratched the back of his neck told Rude he had not really considered it before. Kyo on the other didn't seem to care as he sidled idly over to Rude's other side. Immediately he sensed something was up.

"So want a hand with those boxes?" the ginger haired man asked surprising the rookie who automatically declined with an "I'm fine."

"Oh _good_ but I didn't ask that, I said do you want a hand with those boxes?"

Rude gave him a funny look. He couldn't tell if the senior Turk was being sarcastic, insistent or was making fun of him. Possibly Kyo had managed to be all three at once, whatever, the Turk was in an odd mood and this only increased Rude's suspicions.

"Well here's your card and the room number is nine point five two." The desk man slid the card across the shiny metal desk which felt cold to the touch especially against the rather warm 'key'.

"The first number is what floor you're on," Trent again supplied kindly.

Before Rude could thank him he felt unexpected lightness in his right arm as two boxes were snatched from his pile. He forgot Trent could be pretty quick sometimes. Kyo was also fast in taking one box off his partner so the luggage was pretty much evenly distributed between the three of them. They didn't let the rookie protest.

"Now you don't have to worry about dropping it when you need to get your card out."

"'Sides it'll make it easier to find ya in the future, you know if we want to bug you or something."

Rude was unable to think of a scenario were that would be necessary but decided it was easier to go along with them and it was nice to be carrying less. Following Trent's lead they trooped to the elevators; Rude now counted that there were four of them. One opened immediately and they piled inside in silence. It was in the confines of the, actually rather large, elevator that Rude decided something was definitely up between the two Turks. He didn't know if Trent's pointed glances were purposed to be unsubtle, but they drew attention to Kyo's fidgeting and more irritated return looks. Something conspiring was going on between them and Rude would bet his unearned months wages it involved him. Well he was in no mood to beat about the bush.

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

Kyo was the first to react, in a startled and too defensively to be convincing manner, "What makes ya say that?"

Trent on the other hand became business like and professionally ignored the imaginary daggers the smallest Turk present was mentally throwing at him, "Yes actually we do, I think Kyo left a lot still standing yesterday that needs explaining."

"It's really _nothing_." Kyo groaned, shifting once more to give Rude a pointed look telling him to not listen to his partner.

Trent glanced at Kyo, something else was silently passed between them as the large man continued, "It's nothing _serious_, don't worry." Rude may have been more convinced if the Turk had said it too his face.

There was an awkward pause until the ginger-haired man tried to fill it, "Ya not in trouble, it's just...we think that..." He smacked the side of the elevator with his fist, "Trent do it, I can't."

Sighing and shaking his head Trent turned back to Rude. Was it him or did both Turks look apprehensive, as if fearing the reaction to whatever they wanted to say. Rude tried to remember what Kyo had been talking to him about yesterday. It took some sifting of his memories as they were still a jumble sale of snippets of the party mostly. He was starting to think whatever that drink had been, for he did remember the notion of drinking something more than he should have was to blame for the sluggish processing. Trent lucky saved him the trouble by jogging his memory. "Don't take this the wrong way but we want you, just until you're settled in after a few months, to stay away from the Kid, _seriously_."

Oh, now he remembered Kyo had said something about that but he hadn't really explained why, maybe that's what they were trying to do now. A swift take in of the pair and he thought that it was just that. Still why was it so important that they had to go out of their way to explain it, did they think he was detrimental to Reno's recovery? He supposed he'd find out.

"Nothing against him-" Kyo started when Rude took too long to respond.

Trent cut him off, "Or you. It'll just be easier for you if you got used to the pace of things."

Another tense pause forced Rude to probe for more clarification, "I'm afraid I don't understand."

" He... well yeah I don't either." Kyo started but trailed off sheepishly and looked to Trent, again pinning him with the responsibility to give out the hard news, but then it seemed to be the large man's idea so Rude supposed that was fair. Trent 'Humphed'.

"For what reasons?" Rude pressed as the elevator stopped on the ninth floor and the door slide open with a cumbersome groan, nothing like the efficient swiftness of the doors in the Tower.

Trent continued the conversation on the move but his voice was noticeably lower to the point Rude was standing very close so he could hear, "Well tonnes, although most you'd think were ridiculous"

"Cas they _are." _Kyo added, pressed against Rude's other side.

A nod from the large Senior before he continued knowledgeably, "But they also have a root of truth. Firstly something that you've probably seen yourself so can't deny is he's a mischievous, unpredictable, prankster and has been, so I hear, since day one although he's apparently growing out of it. But that has meant he's got a number of enemies, including as you have seen some of the executives, you don't want them as _your_ enemies, understand? He's got a poor reputation which you don't want attached to you, build up a good report of your own at least and it'll be easier if you're not associated with him."

"That being said he's not yet failed an objective on any mission." Rude liked how the ginger haired man was so keen to defend Reno but it was complicating how he was suppose to respond.

"Aye, but he isn't orthodox. Not his fault most of the time mind but he is known for going to," Trent shifts to get closer to Rude's ear and practically whispers, "_extremes_ to get the job done."

Kyo smirked, "Heh, he'll deny it though."

"That's beside the point. His work ethic has started rumours that he's cursed, weird but you know how the gossip is."

Rude shook his head, "No."

Trent sighed, "It's just anyone who's got close to him _died_ not long after, his guardians, friends, partners and it hasn't helped that the last death count included just people who were only in the same room."

Maybe it was the way the Turk said it or how Kyo was methodically shaking his head but Rude couldn't help but take Trent's 'warning' as exaggerated, superstitions like those daft urban myths. "Tseng seems close to him," He pointed out.

Suddenly the two became united again after another shared but discomfited glance. The smaller Turk said "I wouldn't go round saying that, it's another cause of bad blood between the kid and others."

Trent added, "Can't blame them though, he does get away with a lot but it's not favouritism it's just he's too good to lose right now. I mean we've had worse guys and the company still keeps them on the payroll if not in the building. The Kid's too young to live on another continent by himself."

"'Sides its healthier for us to have someone to keep everyone on their toes. But, ya right those two have somethin', I mean I don't think Red would still be around one way or another." Kyo rounded that point off jokingly. It was obvious between the two of them Kyo was probably fonder of the redhead. Rude wondered what that said considering Kyo was probably the most abrasive and short tempered.

"Please don't take what we've said as an insult to you, we don't believe any of that rubbish nor does Arisa but you've got people who do and you're a nice guy so..." Trent trailed off hoping Rude could fill in the rest, Rude could and to be honest he didn't really like it. Nevertheless he was intrigued why they were even concerned.

So he asked, "What makes you think we'd become associated?"

Kyo and Trent shared some more eye contact which he was already getting tired of, especially when he was in the middle of it but this time they were both smirking, and in unison they said, "We can tell."

"..."

Rude's feet suddenly sped up; really he was not particularly angry about the senior Turks insinuations about him and the redhead, but too much crowding around got to him. He did not see why so much fuss was being made about his brief interactions with the young man. So what if he was admittedly intrigue by the youth's oddity, he certainly wasn't the only one. It would occur to him much later - and after more thought than was healthy to spent on such a topic, - that the fuss came from Reno's interest in him, not the other way around.

" W-whoa, slow down before you knock someone over," Trent grabbed the back of his jacket forcing the rookie to decelerate. "I didn't think you were an unreasonable guy."

Rude was a little offended by that, "I am not unreasonable; if I don't hurry my partner may get to the room before I do." An obvious lie, there was no way Marko could overtake them, well without passing by. Just thinking that, the actual danger of his partner appearing at any moment abruptly became very prominent one and the lie quickly became a truth.

Trent seemed to get it, well at least he released his jacket and picked up his own pace donning an apologetic smile, "Oh right, sorry I misunderstood."

Behind them Kyo commented, "Ha nice, marking your territory. Making up for rooming with this year's number one cocky pants? I gotta say tough break."

Rude just shrugged, it would be the closest gesture he'd give to indicate acceptance of his poor fortune. He supposed if he believed in karma or something of that spiritual nature to do with the balance of good and bad in souls or the universe then the tides had changed after all his successes and he was paying for it.

"Well since we're practically there we'll help move in." Trent graciously offered as the passed rooms in the forties.

Kyo eyed the three boxes. "He doesn't have enough to split between us."

***

By the time Marko arrived Rude, with help, had unpacked his things and settled in the room with the better view and _felt_ right (since otherwise there wasn't much to chose from). Trent had shown him where all the pre-supplied, standard furniture, appliances and other such homely conveniences were stored waiting for the new arrivals. Most was still in some form of wrapping which Kyo _delighted_ in tearing away, leaving Rude with no choice but to organize everything into a practical place as he could not bear coming back to the mess the ginger-haired man was making . Their combined efforts meant that what could have taken hours turned out to be a swift affair. The senior Turks proving efficient partners could tackle moving in with almost as much ease as espionage within an hour.

So when Marcus walked in, laden with all his belongings he was greeted to an apartment that looked almost lived in, ignoring the gleaming newness of everything and the sterile if slightly polish scented air. The thought that his partner, with help, had done it never crossed his mind. As was his custom he took it for granted -if it wasn't life threatening- and examined the two rooms only to discover the one he would have had was taken.

It sealed the deal for his bad day, not only had Jordo and Doug abandoned him to bring his things here by himself but now he was on the left side of the apartment, he wanted to be on the _right_. His tortured mind refused to think that he was also living with that strange, giant, head-butting Neanderthal his disappointment of a brother considered a friend. To be honest the remnants of his hangover was not allowing his mind to do much at all and he was grateful for it. Needless to say he returned to ShinRa tower in a foul mood.

***

It had been an awful day and Rude pushed it to the deepest recesses of his mind where he hoped the memory would disintegrate. If it was telling of days to come than he sure hoped the pay would still make it worthwhile. The only saving grace was Marcus had gone off into town immediately after they clocked out. He didn't think much of Marcus before; sometimes he'd disliked him or got annoyed with him but after working with him for eight hours straight the man was insufferable. Again he quickly had to shove the prospect of working with him for twice as long tomorrow to the back of his mind as well.

He went into the kitchen to drink a glass of water, and then pour another one and took it to his room. He thought of working with Manube and Fraeya again tomorrow, it was possibly the only thing he had to look forward to. Setting the glass down on his bed side, he began unzipping his jacket with one hand. Walking back to the door he shut it and then, in a unusually sloppy fashion yanked his foot out of his shoe and kicked it unceremoniously, and a little angrily under the bed where he hoped it would reach the wall with a satisfying thump.

"Ouch!"

Rude paused. He was tired and admittedly his mind probably wasn't as clear as it usually was but he was certain his shoe didn't normally make a pained noise when he kicked it. To be sure he loosed his other shoe and kicked that under the bed too, but a bit more cautiously this time.

"Oi," Yelped the muffled voice from under the bed, Rude was certain it couldn't be his shoes now for if his shoes could talk he hoped they didn't sound younger than he did. "Did ya not hear me the first time?" A hand shot out; gripping the shoe he'd just tossed under- his right one.

Then Reno started to appear, slowly and awkwardly head shoulders and the rest of him emerged. If Rude had been any other man he would have jumped back in alarm when the first dark tufts of spikey popped out- even Tseng would have made some movement of surprise- but he just stood stoically and indignantly until the other Turk had fully removed himself from under the bed . Once Reno had pulled his legs out he proceeded to sit cross legged at the foot of Rude's bed slumping forward and propping his chin in one hand to regard the bald rookie with a scowl, "Ya not going to say anything?"

"I didn't expect you to be under _my_ bed."

The scowl quickly morphed into a sheepish, somewhat goofy grin as the young man replied, "Fair does." Rude took a moment to observe his visitor instantly get distracted with looking around the room, or precisely the door frame immediately to his right side. No exactly sure what was suddenly so fascinating about the woodwork- except maybe that their rooms had wood furnishings in buildings made almost completely of metal otherwise- Rude resumed undressing.

He was neither uncomfortable nor completely comfortable with getting undressed in front of another male, he did prefer some privacy in his own room and despite hoping Reno would excuse himself he was not surprised that he didn't. Truthfully he was curious as to why the redhead was here and maybe a little flattered that he'd been singled out or at least warranted some attention from someone who generally seemed deficit of having any attention span ninety percent of the time. That was until a shoe- more precisely his right shoe – smacked him in the side of the head. Spot on his ear, knocking him off balance for a second.

Hand clamped to his now throbbing lobe he steadied himself on the dresser, teeth gritted to hold back the yell he was more than ready to give the little devil. Breathing heavily, as if it would ease the rapidly swelling pain he dared a quick glance at the other Turk. Normally he'd have expected anyone else to immediately spout out a string of apologizes and offers to get an ice bag or something but as it was this person Rude was fine that he wasn't apologizing or helping. Reno had been aiming to hit him and he wasn't sorry at all. So he was actually expecting something like a smug smile or snicker. Instead Reno wasn't even looking at him. He was eyeing the empty boxes that had contained all his belongings blankly. Knowing he wasn't even going to get any sympathy, he resumed taking his shirt and pants off as if nothing had happened. His head still hurt but he had some painkillers in one of his drawers that he'd put his underwear in, assigning where his clothes where going was all he'd had time to do after everything else that required attention. Any unnecessary trinkets had been quickly shoved into a drawer as a jumbled mess and he knew he'd have to attend to those some time.

Once changed into a more casual t-shirt and slacks he walked back to the youth still on his floor and stood in front of him debating whether to address him or just kick him, the latter sounding more attractive for obvious reasons. His proximity finally drew Reno's attention; of course Rude had the suspicion the teenager had been watching him when his back was turned. He let out a deep breath and waited for what he had to say, but when a full minute of complete silence followed with the Turk at his feet doing a great impression of a lost Tonberry, Rude reluctantly spoke first. "Did you have something you wanted to say to me?"

"What makes you think that?"

Letting out a sign of frustration Rude replied in a measure tone, "You're"- _still_-"in my room."

"I might just like watching you." Said the youth at his feet, he was lying Rude could tell because just for a second it looked like the blank look was going to become a smile. It made Rude feel better and his annoyance ebbed a little.

"That would be...." he struggled to think of an appropriate word but settled for, "creepy."

"Yeah I'm a creepy guy," Reno responded with a shrug, trying to pull off a resigned demurer as if how he was had been decided him for him and he couldn't help it. Had he not sounded a little pleased Rude may have believed him.

Continuing the conversation would only encourage Reno to play his little games so Rude said, "Suit yourself," and sat on his bed, pulling one of his books from under it and turned on the bed side light. Reno watched him the whole time and waited until the bald man had reclined fully into his pillows before climbing up to sit at Rude's feet, legs drawn up so he could rest his chin on his knees.

After ten minutes of silence, save for his wrist watch ticking away on the dresser, Rude actually started to think Reno may have been serious after all, in which case he hoped he hadn't acquired a stalker. Noting his place he closed his book and sat up to face the redhead. "I give in, is this about being interrupted earlier, at the party?"

Three loud, hollow claps followed his question. "Man you're slow," Said Reno shaking his head and smiling for real.

"Couldn't you have said that before when I asked?"

"No. Now I know we're on the same level." Reno crawled forward so they were sitting closer together but were still at a comfortable distance, "There was some stuff actually I thought you'd like to know. Since you rookies are pretty clueless and, no offence, I think you're a little dense." Rude was offended but he didn't say anything, Reno's mannerisms had changed, like he'd matured in that little crawl along his bed.

"What did you want me to know?"

"Well from what we talked about earlier I can tell you're naive, I'd expect that from grunts but..." He shook his slender, pale face violently as if to shake what he was going to say from his head and start over, "If you want to survive you'll need to get clued up- and you know it'd help if ya were honest with yourself." Rude nodded, he was still getting use to the idea that the redhead was the veteran when he seemed like was barely touching seventeen.

"Okay I'll clue ya up first. On average the 'Shinra Peacekeeping Troops'," He snorted at the name, "along with SOLDIER usually out numbers the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department by a hundred to one on average, but then Black Ops are usually outnumbered. Of course the SOLDIER program is limited because creating super humans is a tricky business and so far there are only three functional, top elites, Angeal, Genesis and Sephiroth, you'll be hearing their names a lot as they're the ones called on when the most force is needed and we're usually the ones to helping on their missions. You're still a rookie so the chances of you being called on to help is almost zero but it'll be good to know none the less. Following this?"

Again Rude nodded, he was basically aware of everything Reno had told him, except the SOLDIER project, he'd been told part of it but he had no idea the company was investing in changing a human into a super human. "Good now the Head of Public Safety, Lazard, he's good to work with so if you need an official go to him. Stay away from a guy called Heidegger, he is an incompetent ass but he's been interested in taking over the Turks so I hear, either that or get rid of the department, which by the way you didn't hear from me. Anyway if ya see a big man, and I mean _big_, with a black beard and moustache avoid him like a Dragon Zombie. He likes to slap people around when he's mad and he's constantly on a power trip, weird since I don't even know what he does but just stay away, same goes with that Scarlet woman although we usually have no choice but to interact with her as she controls most of the weapons. Ya still with me?"

"Avoid Heidegger and Scarlet. What about the President and the vice President?"

"Ya just do what they say, the vice president is nothing to worry about, it's the president's son ya need to keep an eye on," Rude wanted to ask why, sure Rufus was an interesting case but he seemed okay, but felt it unwise to interrupt the youth at this point, "the other executives, Reeve and Palmer don't worry about them. To be honest ya just a rookie so chances of getting mix up with the head honchos is slim so maybe I should warn ya about those you shouldn't get mixed up within the department. I would warn against Macti but he's just a jerk, nothing ya not used to with that partner you got. Can't really think of many others, everyone is scattered and newbies keep showing up off the streets it's hard to keep up," Reno ruffled his head angrily as if the information he wanted would fall out of his hair into his lap. "There are two though," He suddenly exclaimed, catching Rude a little by surprise, "Merrick and Didier, watch out for them."

"Why? Is there something wrong with them?"

"Well not exactly, just keep in mind with those two there is more than meets the eye. Also there is something else, be careful of – what was that noise?"

"What noise?" No sooner had the words come out of his mouth did he hear the almost inaudible click that signalled someone entering the apartment. As if they'd just been petrified they froze listening to the telltale clatter of Marko putting his key card and other metal objects onto the kitchen counter. They listened to him shuffle around the apartment, meandering, exploring the layout and then come closer. Closer, the sounds of his footsteps scrapping against the new carpet grew and for no reason than Reno's over alertness did Rude feel his own heart pounding as if it was an enemy on the other side and not his partner. Maybe to Reno he was, the bald man was starting to get the impression the redhead didn't trust many people despite how laidback he seemed to be around everyone. Before Marko's shadow appeared under the door said redhead suddenly disappeared, the bed didn't even creak, however he did see the sheets hanging over the edge flutter from the corner of his eye.

Getting up he crossed the room and opened the door, "Yes?"

Marko stumbled back, too late to pretend he hadn't just tried to press his ear against the door and tried to act unsurprised, "Oh, you are in." He said dryly and tried to look around Rude's frame.

Not feeling hospitable he nodded and shut the door in Marko's face, rude yes but after the day Rude had had one should sympathize. Problem now was how was Reno going to get out of here undetected. He stayed by the door until he was positive Marko had wandered off, hopefully into his own room. Reno must have been able to tell when the coast was clear for suddenly he burst quietly out from under the bed, rolling on the floor and gagging. Although he hardly made a sound Rude was paranoid anything odd would bring Marko back, he approached Reno and shot a hand out to cover the redhead's mouth, careful not to squeeze his face least he unset some injury under the bandages. Naturally Reno squirmed tetchily until he managed to wrench the hand off his face, "Your shoes smell nasty man," He choked, retching and wafting his nose, "I could have died."

"No one told you to go under the bed," Rude whispered back insulted but then he remembered something, "By the way, what did you say about dying with honour last night?"

Reno tilted his head momentarily bemused. Rude waited for the light to come on and when it did the pale face glowered, "A dead Turk is one who failed," Reno replied. "There's no honor in that. 'Sides I don't think you really care for honor that much anyway, but time will tell."

Intimidated by the seriousness of his single eyed gaze Rude mutely nodded although he did not exactly agree, immediately the tension in the room lifted as the redhead's demur became mischievous once again. The bald man didn't think the kid cared what he thought really, but then again he did not understand why the little redhead was even there. "That's enough of the serious talk for now, I would tell ya more but seems with Mr. Sourpuss lurking we're short of time. So since I'm willing to give you guidance on Turk survival what ya say you do me a favour."

"So that's the reason."

"Hey, hey what's with that face," Reno poked his Rude's cheek, "I don't do this sort of thing lightly, ya know." Rude grabbed Reno's hand and looked at him sternly still confused about what he said when he was serious and wanting answers.

"Why me?"

The question earned him a long and funny look until Reno's expression formed into one of concentration as he started gesticulating "Well...I...that is..." not able to form anything coherent on the topic beside that Reno decided to move on much to Rude's annoyance "Anyway, trust me this'll be good for you too." He grinned a big painful grin as if to distract the rookie – it didn't work.

Resigned that he might as well go along with it and hold off getting the answers he wanted for once he asked, "...What is it?"

"I need you to help me impress Tseng."

"What?"

"I wanna to do proper missions again, I hate bein' stuck with academy personal or searching through some old farts filing cabinet, everyone's treaten' me like I'm on my deathbed and because of that woman, messing me up with one of her crazy experiments. I told Tseng last night that I was ready but he said," Reno paused to take a breath and deepened his voice to mimic the second –in-command's, "'convince me, then we'll see'" His voice switch back to it normal, "so I gotta show him what I'm worth first. Only," Rude watched the redhead's face shrink from a determined frown into the sad look he'd worn in the hotel room "I've been trying all day and nothing I've done seems to have impressed him and I'm at a dead end."

"What have you tried?" Rude inquired with trepidation of the answer.

"Well I got through all of the security codes Reeve was installing to show how easy it was, if I hadn't done that then they wouldn't have known the weaknesses."

"...Doesn't that mean they're going to have to do it all over again?"

"...Well yeah but they'll thank me later. I also managed to sneak into Tseng's office and put tarantulas in desk draws," Rude gave him a look over his shades, "Hey it proves I can still move undetected and even with hands like these unpick locks. I also outran Heidegger- not like that's hard - after swiping some papers he was carrying, that was going well until I dropped them in a decorative fountain thing... I got a lecture for that but they should have been mad at the fat man for being so careless as to allow someone to snatch them in the first place. Oh and I hid the keys to the troopers' weapon stores, it kept them busy for hours, so not only did they get lots of exercise but it further shows ...Okay I did _that one_ for fun."

Rude blinked at him, "Don't you think...you just caused trouble for everyone else?"

"Their fault for not being prepared for such things, but if I can do all that in a building like this then surely that means I'm fit enough for proper, ya know, interesting assignments. If I'm gonna be stuck here I might as well get some good work right?"

"...I don't think they saw it that way."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Reno groaned and flopped backward onto the bed, scowling at the ceiling, "come to think of it I've never been allowed to do interesting stuff, they always expect me to wait at the back and if I get a bit of action I always get an earful for it. Only the president's ever given me worthwhile stuff to do and even then the commanders always act like they'd rather I didn't." He continued a bit louder as if he'd come a realization, "You know what Rude, I bet Tseng said that so I wouldn't get to do anything, that's the kind of punishment he'd think of."

Rude smiled at Reno's childishness, vaguely amazed at how mature the youth could act at times but otherwise he seemed to be a completely different story. In the orange light he examined the youth at his leisure- it would become a habit of his. Reno was quite ...long already, probably wouldn't get grow much more even if he was quite young although Rude's assumption that he was so young was increasingly based on behaviour rather than appearance. It was hard to tell with the bandages but the teenager's face –for he was definite Reno hadn't reached twenty yet- was more feminine (and oddly timeless) than boyish. If the redhead was younger than sixteen he wouldn't been surprised, SOLDIER recruitment went down as low as twelve so anything was plausible. He sort of wished he knew, not that it mattered. "...May I suggest you do what you haven't done?"

Reno, in a laborious manner propped himself on his elbows to look at him, "Eh? What kinda advice is that?"

"Well can you tell me anything you haven't tried? You never said anything about paper work." Rude prompted.

A look of horror crossed the younger man's features, "I hate paperwork, and how's that gonna show I can work in the field?"

"It won't but if you do things he doesn't expect and things that don't end up causing trouble he may be _impressed_." The bald Turk encouraged and was pleased to see the horror melt into contemplation. Well until it started to become something scared and pleading.

"Er...yeah...but-but reports? Filing? Lists? That'll take forever." It was like he was begging Rude to see sense and Rude could empathize, but he doubted anything the redhead needed doing or could find to do would compete with the mountains of disorder that awaited his return in the department of space exploration.

"It's not like you'll have that much to do." He reasoned, wondering if he should invite the redhead to help with them tomorrow but worried he might scare him away completely.

Reno mimed with his hands two piles up to his waste, looking smug.

"That's not something to be proud of," Rude grumbles still picturing the numerous towers of messed up paper and files.

"Ah well, if that's what you say it'll take I'll do it," Reno sighs unhappy but resolved. "Well ya won't be seeing me til I'm an old man and I probably got another pile of incident forms after today." Rude thought it served him right as Reno suitably looked ashamed.

Rude smiled despite his previous thought, he really quite liked the kid and words leap from his mouth unbidden, "Want help?"

"Huh? Oh, no!"

"Sure?" For some reason he insisted while a little voice in his head was telling him to drop it or he would regret being so nice, the same voice he ignored every time he'd helped John, Jim or Tabby in the examinations.

"Ya got your own assignment."

"After." Well he would have plenty of practice he justified to himself.

"Ya just want an excuse to avoid ya partner. Don't try playing innocent I can see through ya like a sheet o' glass."

Rude guessed that would also be a plus and asked, "So how about it?"

"Well if ya so persistent I guess. Suppose I can clue you up more in return?"

Rude nodded, "Shall I message you when I am done?"

"Sure, I'll pick ya up since ya don't know where my office is."

"_Your_ office?"

"Well that's what it's called. Could be an all nighter, I've forgotten how long scribbly stuff takes to do, ya okay with that?" Rude nodded, "Wow, ya really cool with this." Reno was looking at him like he was crazy before sighing, "Can't complain, can I? Hehe, so now that's settled what am I gonna do till I sneak out? I didn't even bring anything, well I did but you can guess what happened to it, don't suppose ya got something?"

It was at that moment Rude recalled the black bouncy ball John had given him last night, he also remembered he'd dumped it in the draw of unnecessary trinkets. Getting up suddenly and ignoring Reno's yelp as he rocked the bed he walked over to the draw and pulled it open. Sifting through the bits, a lot of which had deep private and sentimental value, he found both the blue and black ball nestled in the corner. He took both out and passed them to Reno as he went back to bed. The redhead examined them, specifically the black one which he probably wasn't expecting and seemed quite pleased to have back. He glanced at Rude and smiled, "Why do you end up with my stuff?"

Rude shrugged and lay staring at the ceiling, finding the company making the otherwise cold (but not in temperature) bedroom cosy. Just in the corner of his vision he glimpsed little dots alternatively popping in and out of view. Eventually it became too much of a distraction to ignore, not to mention the redhead was being quiet and he was learning that wasn't a good sign. Casually he lifted his head and was relived – if a tad taken aback- to see Reno tongue sticking out in concentration juggling the two balls. Despite his intense focus his hands seemed to be on auto pilot, even doing an intricate little flick to add spin on the balls. Rude tried to think of the last time he'd seen someone juggle, he knew it must have been years. The novelty of it beckoned him to watch for longer. So he did.

It may have been an hour later, Rude wasn't checking the time, before Reno felt confident enough to try multitasking or engage in conversation. They spoke of everything and nothing usually Reno giving titbits of his valuable knowledge of the inner workings of ShinRa while avoiding anything personal of course. But that didn't stop them trying to trick private details from the other like a game, which the redhead was much better at. At some point Reno lost his rhythm and the blue ball fell on his head and the black ball rolled off the bed and bounced along the floor, at some point it produced a funny noise then stopped rigidly, the carpet around it flattened. The rookie did not notice this until the morning; he was too distracted by his companion. Rude liked listening to Reno; mostly because he seemed to pick up any tangent he came across in his mind and followed it so most of his stories or opinions were left unfinished. It was like a roller coaster of thoughts tumbling from his mouth and Rude never knew what was going to come out next. At some point he drifted into a peaceful slumber with Reno's little rants fading to silence.

He dreamt of red Chocobos running along twisted train tracks through an origami backdrop and paper mountains.

***

The following morning brought another overcast day and the promise of rain, or even hail with the northern winds. Sheltered within ShinRa owned thick and well heated walls Rude did not care but a little of his heart went to those still on missions requiring them to bare the elements. The rest of his pity was saved for himself and those joining him in sorting out Palmer's filing. As they discovered yesterday, the man, nor his department, were bothered about organization. Anything had been shoved anywhere resulting in nightmarish mountains of paper. The four rookies had immediately smelt a rat and suspected the science department of coming up with any excuse to get someone else to sort it out for them. Even with all hands on deck, which in the end they'd resorted to, today promised much of the same. He vaguely wondered if Manube had the sense to wear gloves this time; the man was awfully prone to paper cuts.

That was at least another hour away, for now he was content to mull over yesterday nights surprise visit and sip his cooling coffee. Well that was until Marko walked importantly into the kitchen. Not even acknowledging Rude standing in the corner he began bustling about searching for the items which would serve to make his breakfast. At least the company kept them well stocked before they had to go out and do their own grocery shopping or order in. Rude did not mind being ignored or purposively avoided, especially not when he stood in front of the cupboards harbouring the bowls and plates. Marko eventually gave up the search and settled on toast instead. This was when it all started to go downhill.

For no fathomable reason Marko took the toaster from one side of the kitchen and shoved the coffee maker out of the way to make room for the heating appliance. Perplexed and slightly annoyed, Rude glared furiously behind his shades. He had taken the time before having his refreshing, morning brew to layout everything in a more suitable place than where Trent had put things. He had a particular order he felt things _should_ be and he appreciated Marko may want to make his mark on the territory as well but moving the toaster for no good reason seemed completely absurd. Rude had picked its place out specifically as it was closer to the smoke detector, it was far away from the sink and it looked neat next to the microwave and the metal row of hanging serving spoons and other kitchen utensils. Where Marko had put it, well it was now taking up space next to the bread-bin and close to the fridge, it just _looked _wrong.

Not wanting a fuss he waited until Marko had made his food, then he unplugged the device, shook out the crumbs into the sink and returned it to its place on the _right _side of the kitchen. Content he returned to his just warm coffee in silence. Not long after Marko stood, picked up the toaster, shoved the coffee-maker out of the way again and firmly placed it next to the bread-bin. Rude's vision darkened further but he waited again for Marko to sit down before righting everything. No sooner had he done so was Marko back on his feet and undoing it for a third time, almost toppling the coffee-maker over and its liquid contents onto Rude before practically slamming the toaster into place. Infuriated Rude slide the coffee-maker towards where it should be. Marko shoved it back. Rude returned it. Marko pushed it again. Rude returned it another time. Marko shoved it back a little harder. Rude returned it firmer. Marko swatted it. Rude batted it back.

This went on without either speaking until Marko smacked the defenceless appliance right off the counter. Only Rude's quick reflexes saved the mechanical damsel but he made sure the plastic kettle half full of coffee got all over Mako's trousers as well as the floor and himself. _Served the good-for-nothing right_, he thought. Finally his partner acknowledged his presence. "What's _wrong_ with you? Look what you did to _my suit_, now I am going to have to change you pedantic brute!"

Without waiting for an answer – good, since he wasn't getting one – the star rookie stomped out of the kitchen like a prima donna leaving Rude to clean up the mess and get things back to how they should be.

It was just a little thing really, but regardless it caused them to be over half an hour late for the work. The shame only hit them when they had to account for their tardiness around lunch time, neither could bring themselves to speak the truth nor construct a feasible lie so another five minutes was wasted in uncomfortable silence until Tseng gave up. Their unspoken punishment was naturally double shifts in making sure other people in the company did their work in the future.

***

Half way through the afternoon and still making very little head way the rookies had an unexpected visitation. Reno popped his head into the room the four rookies were assigned to exclaiming, "I thought I'd find you here!"

As no one had heard him coming all four whipped round to stare at him fast enough to give slight whip lash. Marko was the first to speak, "What do you want?"

"I've come to help you newbies."

"_Really_? That'd be wonderful," gasped Fraeya breathily, she was, like the rest of them, very tired at this point so the thought of assistance softened her usually professionally brusque manner. When you got to know her she was actually quite a refined lady and her speech became more courteous but before that she could come across as curt, almost impolite.

"We're fine," Marko said with menace, "Who sent you?"

"No one but I've got nothing else to do, thought ya might be finished." Reno shrugged strolling into the room hands shoved in his pockets.

Marcus sneered at him, luckily Manube decided to speak, "We would appreciate some help, right Fraeya, Rude?" He looked at the two he knew would be reasonable and they nodded unanimously.

"Cool, where do ya want me?"

"Out of this office," Marcus muttered so the redhead could hear. Everyone ignored him; even Manube and Fraeya who were intimidated by the authority Marcus gave himself and even treated him with a level of respect.

Fraeya spoke nervously, "Sorting these into the correct stacks is taking quite a lot of time." She indicated the generous heap of thick papers on her left side and the neat little stacks she was sorting them into in front of her.

"Yeah," Agreed Manube, "You've still got twice the amount we've got to get through."

"Makes sense to have twice the people working on it then," Reno conceded with a charming grin and made his way over to her. Rude thought the amount Fraeya had had been exaggerated, but it did take longer and more care to sort out than what everyone else was doing. Manube was carefully emptying out filing cabinets; they'd decided it would be simpler to go through everything thoroughly once, even if it did mean adding to the floods of paper. Marko was on receipts and Rude was sorting what Freaya passed to him into their correct cabinet in alphabetical order. They would by the end of it have changed the whole system, but since no one knew what the original system had been it could only be an improvement. To help them Manube had wisely made copies of how they'd decided they'd organise the system and these plans would be stuck helpfully in the room so the department could follow it like a guide alongside all the labels they were adding. No one believed the system would last more than a week.

With a fifth man on board they finally started to pick up the pace, mainly as Reno whined how boring the job was and how slow they were. Everyone ended up being surprised by the young redhead's efficiency despite his complaining. He really got into it, sorting three times more documents than Freaya without putting things in the wrong place. His presence not only added that push the tired rookies needed, but also a jovial mood that had been lacking before his arrival. Between complaining he would flirt with Fraeya mercilessly until she was blushing and tease Manube or Rude good-naturedly, although they weren't always sure if some of his insults were meant in jest. When Fraeya's work was reduced to a manageable amount he helped Manube empty every cabinet, causing a minor panic at first as he just threw whatever into the middle of the floor. But he smoothly reasoned they'd have to sort it all out anyway and now Manube could help Fraeya put the mess into her piles- the number of which had also increased. Since then he followed the rookie's little organization plan, labelling the cabinets, the drawers and marking the dividers within by their theme or topic with the enthusiasm of a small boy wanting to test out a new pen set. He had left them momentarily to harass the space team for some coloured pens and paper before he started working.

Once he completed that task there was half an hour to go before their hours officially finished for the day. Somehow Reno kept up the energy, diving into the task of picking up piles and shoving them into their respective places with the kind instruction to Rude that he could sort them out when he came to them. Rapidly the piles started disappearing as Reno, in a last minute fever, practically flew from the cabinets to the piles and back chattering away to himself about where the stuff in his arms needed to be. He forced the rookies to work even faster lest he start complaining at them again. Rude often had comments thrown his way about why he was _so_ slow until the clock struck the minute they could leave. Not once did Reno touch the receipt pile.

The five paused at the door before exiting and for the first time could see an end in sight. Manube asked if Reno would be helping tomorrow but the young man only gave a non-committal shrug and made fun of the amount of band aids on the blonde's hands, saying something along the lines that they matched raising his own bandaged limbs. Marko left them immediately after that and with polite reluctance Manube and Fraeya departed not long after.

"Did you enjoy that?" Rude asked amusedly.

"I'm not a _masochist_."

"..." Rude didn't think Reno should know the meaning of that word.

* * *

Hope it was worth the wait. Take care, bye ^.^


	15. Office work? It could be worse

A/N: Great apologises for the wait and I know (particularly the end) there is likely to be a lot of grammar mistakes that I did not see. If they get pointed out early I will probably change them.

Merry christmas 2010 and I hope you have a Happy New Year 2011  
(Ah time flies where is my life going)

* * *

The murder was precise, only one bullet required. The entrance wound was perfectly between the victim's eyebrows, delivered by a trained hand at point blank range. It could not have been a lucky shot. Nothing about the scene or the victim gave any impression of lucky. Death generally didn't but in this case slick professionalism was certain.

Street police and inspectors had become used to unexplained, finely executed killings occurring now and again, although they were quite ignorant of the greater number occurring between now and again. It made no difference, these cases were soon made cold and they went back to valiantly chasing street gangs and fighting back mobs or drunkards, they did not even question the fact their shelves would seem a couple files fewer every so often. Had they been at the scene though, they would have known who was responsible, the same way a seasoned Turk – usually the first and only investigators in most cases of murder– knew.

However Tick and Thatch did not and the case quite concerned them or at least until the mid afternoon.

"I would have thought you'd have figured it out by now," Blackwell said when the hour struck precisely 3 O'clock.

The pair of junior Turks looked up from their collection of notes and samples, some of which they were debating if they should bother sending to the labs for some sort of testing. They were not certain what sort, their own tests yielded nothing that wasn't the victims, but it seemed like the right thing to do with evidence.

"Figured out the Murderer? It's only been a view hours." Thatch replied defensively while his partner frowned at the unfamiliar face waiting for him to introduce himself. By true convention of his generation Blackwell was all business.

He was what the department now considered a Solo. A Turk without a partner and the only sort in the weaning stages of the company, the whole partnership business had sprung about because most of the Solo's were less effective when a situation became a matter of numbers against skills. Numbers had a tendency to win. As the company got more powerful, with appropriately rising antagonism and risks, having someone reliable to watch your back was a more fashionable notion. Blackwell despite this remained independent and tight lipped about all matters except the ones he wanted to say, pleasantries were not his thing. Although whether this was old Turk teaching or because he was also the kind of Turk who'd originally been a condemned criminal –of many trades- was a matter of discussion. Tick who was unaware of any of this thought it rude that the man did not introduce himself. "Most would have got it when they walked through the door."

"So you know?" Thatch asked with enough eagerness it warranted his partners disapproving frown to be placed on him instead.

"I've got the file on it with me." Blackwell then proceeded to slide a yellow folder across the desk, disturbing papers and knocking off a bag of evidence. The two juniors ignored this and opened the file. It was a mission report, in Blackwell's own neat and fluid handwriting that was so fancy it hurt to read. It detailed everything from the time of entrance to the victim's apartment, the time the victim came home, their last actions right up until they felt the eyes on them, turned round and ended up dead before they probably even saw the gun. There were some notes on retrieving the bullet but that was the gist of it. The pair looked at Blackwell bug eyed.

It happened rarely but sometimes miss communication caused Turks to be investigators of their own department's crimes. Oh it was a good laugh for veterans, they could find the committers, make a joke report and hand it all to Veld together but for the two Junior Turks it was a moment of serious education. Like most of the Rookies they were aware Turks had a bad name for a good reason but it was something new to see it confirmed and look into the grinning eyes of the culprit. It stung as well, particularly for Thatch who'd fancied a future as a private investigator one time in his pre teen years and had been enthused trying to figure out the mindset of the murderer by the evidence just as it was in crime novels. Tick had had his suspicions; they were trained to kill in this manner after all but he guessed in hindsight there had simply been something more appealing about a rogue but extremely talented killer they could hunt down.

Turning to go Blackwell said over his shoulder, "Sorry to disappoint you kids, try not to be so naive next time alright."

xXx

After two hours Reno paused in his dictations to Rude about the details which needed to go into the report, this allow an opportunity for the bald man to strike up some casual conversation and solve some curiosities he'd been mulling over.

"Why did you come and find me early?"

They were sitting in Reno's cramped little office area which was nothing more than a cupboard lined with filing drawers in the walls from floor into ceiling. It was situated in a far off corner on floor 57, a rather private and lonely location. A ladder, a narrow table in the middle, desk light and files resting on every available shelf space had somehow been cramped in as well. There wasn't even a computer or ceiling light. At odd intervals other employees who Rude didn't recognise had strolled in and put their own papers into one of the drawers, nodding their head to him but most completely ignored Reno or noticed him with the slight raise of the brow as if surprised to see him there. Then they'd look between Rude and the redhead, formulate their own opinion of what was going on and leave.

Reno stopped scribbling and bit the end of his ball point pen. Rude wasn't concerned he'd interrupted his fellow's work as it was progressing into a fairly decent sketch of the wastes but doubtfully vital for mission details. "Oh I was looking for my PHS and just stumbled across ya."

Rude allowed an appropriate amount of time to pass before responding, "You lost it?"

"_Temporally misplaced_," Reno emphasised. Rude thought it was easier not to argue.

The redhead went back to dictating the parts Rude needed to fill in while scribbling his way through his own pile of papers – actual words though he had put the drawing to one side. They were nearing the end of one box of unfinished reports and Rude promised he could have a break when he had finished. They were lucky Reno was capable of writing about one thing while speaking about another, an art apparently he'd picked up off Arisa who liked to gossip through paperwork. Rude had made reasonable progress but there wasn't much he could do, he felt a little guilty as Reno had been much more helpful in the space exploration department. But then this sort of paperwork required details not just shoving things into the correct piles. It did not help that Rude also thought his comparatively large frame was making the confined space more claustrophobic. So when Reno finally threw down his pen and indulged in a exaggerate stretch his large companion was more than eager to get out and get some coffee. Glancing at the time showed it was approaching the twenty two hundredth hour. The time had flown by.

"Oww," Reno whined, flexing his bandaged hands as they slipped into the corridor – the door did not open fully on account of someone dumping a wagon of broken equipment and water coolers in front of it. Rude did not comment but he privately thought his hands wouldn't hurt as much if he had not indulged in accompanying illustrations such as the wastes picture. That being said he appreciated the redhead's humour, a particularly sticking image was one of a cartoony, determined Gremlin and bored Boundfat doing something implying with the caption 'What happens in the woods...stays in the woods.' He hoped Veld would appreciate it to.

Reno led the way through the short criss-crossing corridors. It was night outside and on other floors this was compensated by brightening the lights so everything inside was sharp and detailed. This floor and the floor above didn't seem to follow that rule. It's wasn't dark, but they'd turned off the white lights used during the day so only electric blue or green cast off the metal walls and shiny tiled floor. It had a rather beautiful quality to it but otherwise it felt empty. No natural light entered the corridors, there were no potted flora for decoration and every door locked automatically. He couldn't hear anyone else apart from themselves but he could sense people in other rooms. The atmosphere could have been suspenseful if Reno had not been whistling.

Relying on Reno's direction as he was still adapting to the new place, he thought yet again how training to be a Turk and actually being one couldn't be more different. Suddenly everyone treated you were expected of those above you and those in other departments to naturally know what to do and do it well. Before that what you did not know was explained, there was little expectation of you to actually be competent, it mostly came from yourself. They'd had some opportunity to study the computerised maps of the floor on their PHS but for some reason Rude had never got around to doing it. Just last week he'd have been shocked with himself for such laziness and he was rather ashamed of his lapsing standards but then he needed the sleep more.

They stopped in front of an unsuspicious door, as dull as all the others and in an undistinguishable location, about three quarters of the way along a corridor full of identical doors on each side. Rude supposed it was as good as any place to have a lounge. The door slid open revealing a rather well lit room, no windows still but some fake plants in a corner was a thoughtful touch. There was a sleek counter at the back and cupboards, presumably for cups and mugs and other things people used in breaks. He could pick up the distinct hum of a fridge or two as well. It was warm, the air felt like clothes straight out the dryer and smelt like it to. A running theme he was picking up with Turks, a sense of hygiene and cleanliness. In the academy, trainee Turks were noticeably better dressed but in a building that was shared with others of varying career paths the collective habits weren't as noticeable. When all the differences were removed the traits were glaring.

Despite the temperature the appearance of the room was cold and straight lines, the walls were still metal and the floor tiled, even the soft coloured sofas were angular and positioned regimentally, two rows facing each other across tables. It wasn't as big as the lounge they'd used as the rookies temporary HQ and had the air of a waiting room until you hit the mini kitchen area but Rude liked it. They could have done a lot worse.

"You like?" Reno asked in a manner that suggested he knew the answer while examining the taller man's unmoved face. Rude nodded.

"Good, I'll make some coffee and you can just do something." The redhead sauntered across the room, momentarily peering down a row of sofas as he did. Somehow he managed it barely making a sound. Rude knew travelling as quietly as possible had been part of their instruction, it wasn't compulsory and tended to come to people eventually but some were better at it than others. Reno was clearly one of the better ones and Rude was still surprised he managed to do it, the younger man's manner was still deceptively careless and the rookie had rapidly developed a parental eye, the sort that watched a child in a store full of glass. He wasn't the only one, anyone who'd been in the young Turk's company were subconsciously alert for something to go wrong. Still he was one of the few people who took notice of the things people usually missed, it was so easy to be distracted when it came to the redhead. Like how he could easily steal anything even under trained noses or how he would crawl up a wall of drawers as if it were a ladder. When he'd done that it took Rude's brain a moment to remember that wasn't a particularly normal thing to do. The redhead managed to balance these inhuman feats with equally unexpected episodes of clumsiness. Such as after scaling the wall and coming back down as easy as you please he immediately turned and tripped over his own chair.

Rude approached a glass coffee table with had a small pile of books resting on top; Rude idly picked up one and read the cover 'Tropic of calculus by T. Lehrer'. Interested he flicked through the descriptions of simple mathematical calculations. Mentally doing some of the example calculations, after so many he began to wind down and he felt clear headed enough to skim to the chapters on purer more complex math.

When Reno returned, he stomped his boots like a normal person and Rude looked up just in time to be smacked by a swinging jacket, knocking his shades askew. The coffee was placed on the table with momentary care and then the redhead jumped and flopped onto the sofa opposite with a healthy "Thumthp".

"What're lookin' at?"

Rude held out the book and Reno stretched forward to read it. He pulled a disgusted face and relaxed back his arms behind his head, Rude would quickly find out this was his customary way of 'sitting' on a empty sofa, he'd even do it knowing someone was going to sit down next to him immediately after.

"You don't like maths?" Rude asked a little perplexed.

"I'm not that good at it."

"But the entrance exam?"

"Kinda Cheated remember, not good with the mental stuff," Rude vaguely recalled this but he also recalled it had been a long day and a late night, "I mean I can do it but it's not fun. I do just as well guessing the answer near the end."

"Guessing the answer," Rude replied, smirk shooting to the corner of his mouth. Any decent mathematician knew that beyond estimations being out by even a few decimals could mean something catastrophically wrong had happened further up the line. It meant the formula was not being followed right, a plus had occurred instead of a multiplication or they'd happened in the wrong order, you'd rounded the numbers too soon, got the roots mixed up etc.

"Yeah, I have 49% accuracy on my last test, down by 5% from last week and still nowhere near my previous average."

"What was that?" Rude asked in an amused manner used to oblige small children, the drunk or the insane because in theory they did not pick up on it but everyone else in the room did.

"71%" Reno replied so factually and certain you almost believed him. Rude took a moment before he shook his head. That kind of luck did not exist; beside it did not mean anything, not if you couldn't do the maths right. He did not say anything out loud and when Reno indulged in his drink he did so as well while returning the book to his face.

The hum of the fridge or the lights was annoying when there was nothing distracting you from it and the maths was no longer distracting enough, especially when his tired eyes were having trouble focusing on the small print. Stubbornly he chose to wait for Reno to start up conversation again rather than consider himself weak and escape the buzzing noise himself. Good interrogation practise, he took pride in his mental endurance.

Conveniently the young man had a small bout of coughing. It was nowhere near as bad as the body rattling attacks he'd had around the tournament but they were still an unwelcome reminder Reno was not really in the best of health. It also refreshed the fact he was still covered in bandages, something familiarity tended to gloss over. He'd been wheezing on and off in his little office as well each time causing a bubble of concern in Rude but that swiftly popped by the youth's convincingly energetic rambling that immediately followed, and which Rude had to somehow make notes of. Now though he felt he would mention them, "You getting any better?"

"It's just a little lapse in concentration, got other stuff on my mind y'know but I think now the excitement the big haul of you rookies will calm down and you'll be picking up the slack I'll have more time ta get the knack back. I was partially working it out to a point, now I'm just stopping shorter the usual mark because like I said got other stuff on my mind." He looked at Rude in a manner that was supposed to be meaningful, or Rude supposed he was suppose to get some meaning from it but he was more concerned the redhead still thought he was talking about maths.

"I meant you're health."

Irritation flashed across the younger man's features, "Imma picture of health."

"For a Zombie," Rude hadn't meant for that to come out but around Reno, or around him in a non professional atmosphere, things slipped out. He knew it was better to be the master of your words than to be a slave to them, and he had learnt to master his words to his teacher's approval or say nothing at all. He felt shame that such honed skills were leaving him without the aid of some inebriate.

Reno's soured expression turned a little uglier; the state of his condition was a touchy subject. _Well it would be if you'd been prodded for many hours of the day by so called doctors who did nothing they hadn't done before and admit letting the body fight it off naturally was the safest course and really just pray nothing worse developed because he was a time bomb now that could go anytime so maybe just overdosing him with Mako products would swing it so he'd see the end of the year this side of death. They did not say as much but Turks knew how to read between the lines._

There was a long pause, "Sorry," Rude said.

"Nah," Reno gave him one of those innocent smiles. They seemed the sort of reserve expression he pulled when he could not come up with a better one and it was an improvement to the ugly look which he'd seen the redhead give Marko – it was more insulting than if he had regarded Rude like something off the bottom of his shoe. It made him doubt the authenticity of the smile though. "It was kind of funny. Reports make me forget to have a sense of humour."

That was slightly paradoxical, Rude thought, considering the silly little pictures. Rude had got accustomed to the redhead doing one thing and saying another or visa versa already, categorising it as a personality quirk. Other people found it aggravating or obnoxious. "Soul stealing buggers," Rude offered with an unusually inviting chuckle (for him). It had the desired effect, the redhead laughed a little as well. It all came off embarrassingly awkward for two seconds but at least everything seemed alright again.

"Didn't take you for a swearer." Mischief was dancing in the air and across the glass table, the young man radiating it, like Rude had flipped a switch.

The Rookie shrugged, "Swearing was invented for a reason." He wasn't normally a man prone to swear but that was just another little slip of standards that seemed okay around Reno.

"And they say I'll be a bad influence on _you_," The redhead snickered looking at him with something akin to admiration. It gave Rude a warm feeling inside that had nothing to do with the coffee. He wondered if this was a feeling that made big brothers so eager to look good in front of younger siblings, but then squashed the thought as he'd never felt it with Youji who surely had been like a brother to him. "Now if Tseng calls me up on bad mouthing I can say you do it."

"That's childish and I'd rather you didn't."

"Everyone treats me like one anyway and you're no fun so you're opinion doesn't count." Rude expected the tongue and it came.

"That's not logical reasoning."

"Swearing isn't logical." The frown on Rude's face spoke of his inital confusion and prompted his companion to explain himself, "Well why do those words that only come out when you're not thinking do that? Like when people get so, so mad profanity just pours outta their mouths and y'know what part of your brain just goes 'alright I'm mad so now my vocabulary will be limited to these words that really I don't use.' I mean why don't you start saying a load of stuff like tail feather, pots, dirt, dogs, chair, bucket, swindle, and your mother smells like ripe tonberry."

Rude smirked, "I think it's because taboo words are the insulting kind and when you're in high spirits like when you're angry, you want to hurt and rebel and those are the words you know that fill both requirements."

"So if you swear, you're in high spirits so not a master of yourself which is why Veld and Tseng don't like it because it means you're more likely to make mistakes and it shows weakness." Reno responded as if he was just thinking this now but Rude could tell he'd thought of it before. He registered it as another good quality of the Turk; at least he seemed to want to hear what other people had to say. Surprisingly he was not that bad a listener either, or at least was good at hearing things you'd rather he did not, such as every time the leather material of the sofa squeaked when Rude moved the redhead would give him one of those looks. It was a mercy it was just them in the room, he would have be embarrassed otherwise.

"Makes sense."

"Still were the words invented to be obscene or did they become obscene and like who decides if their obscene or not. You think if I started calling Scarlett a Banshee as if I was calling her –"

"Yeah," Rude promoted so the kid did not swear, not that it would kill him or really offend anyone but there was the principle of it.

"-the bad word we're both thinking, would that become a bad word?"

Rude shook his head, "Too much like the truth." Reno laughed, "and I think it would depend on how you said it and if you called other people it and it caught on."

"Well what would banshees be called?"

"Banshees I guess. Some swear words actually have definitions like a child born to unmarried parents and a female dog, probably why they became taboo in insulting or frivolous contexts."

"Wutain have different bad words you know." Reno said, suddenly with the stuffy airs of an academic.

"Well it is another language."

"Yeah but the original definitions are different."

"You know this how?"

"Tseng swears in Wutain all the time," Rude was a little surprised by this; Tseng came across as a man fully in charge of himself. "Y' know when he's not cursin'. He curses more though. Apparently you haven't _completely_ lost it if you curse so it's okay." Reno tapped the side of his nose.

"I'll remember that." Rude smiled, the kid pulled really amusing conspiratorial faces. It was pure entertainment just to watch him, especially when he talked about their superiors.

Reno drained the last of his cup in one big gulp, "So should we get back to the soul stealing b-"

Rude hand automatically shot up to shush the redhead's cheeky mouth. Whether swearing was a big deal or not he did not want the word spreading he was some foul-mouthed, bad influence. "Yes I think we will."

"Okay," He turned to leave and said loudly, "Bye Virgil hope we didn't disturb you too much."

"Just go away and take your bad influence with you." A rather seasoned, drawling voice sounded down the other end of the room.

Rude felt ill, he thought they'd been the only two in there. He hastened after the redhead whose gait had become a peculiar prance with the caffeine circulating in his system. As soon as it was just the two of them in the corridor with the door firmly shut Reno whispered to him, "I like Virgil, he doesn't like me so much but he's a good Turk- with a name like that'd he'd have to be- and he has dry sense of humour or maybe I just find him funny I can never tell." He paused, took note of Rude's discomfort and swiftly figured out why, "Don't sweat it man, ya still a comparative green horn in the business. Virgil's been here almost as long as Blackwell and he's been here almost as long as Veld, around the time we first started getting called Turks. You've got training and a couple of days, they've got more years than I have on Gaia doing this job, it'd be insulting to them if you'd known he was there."

The rookie supposed he could take some comfort in this while Reno carried on his voice getting less hushed as they moved further away, "I mean they wouldn't have lived for so long in this business if they weren't exceptional." Rude just nodded but the ill feeling persisted coupled with the renewed humility. It took Reno an hour and a half of jabbering through reports about unlinked titbits of stories or gossip before Rude stopped dwelling on it. More importantly he invited Rude to his training regimen the next morning, it rekindled the rookies dwindling motivation and spurred him on to complete the reports, which they just managed on the dregs of their caffeine fuel.

Tired as he was, and now admittedly sick of the sight of forms Rude wished they'd been more for tomorrow at least. If nothing else it meant he would have the perfect excuse to stay out of his apartment and away from Marko.

"You alright big guy?" Reno asked. Rude shook his head and noted the redhead was by the door. He'd stopped functioning halfway through shoving his last pile of files into their designated drawer and a vibrant blue eye was surveying him with concern. "Ya tired. Academy stuff don't much prepare ya for these kind of hours, I shouldn't have let ya help me." He looked down at his shoes so Rude could not see his face but his body language told the bigger man enough. Despite some guilt he liked the company more. Rude felt similar, it was not fun work but he liked helping the peculiar young man. To show this he finished putting the files back, walked up to Reno and placed one of his heavy hands on a bony shoulder, gently but firmly and smiled. Maybe because it was late it felt like a long time before Reno responded in kind, grinning and pushing his hand off like an embarrassed younger brother in a soppy moment. "Alright, I get it I get it...but yeah I'll see ya tomorrow and don't be late. Tseng don't like slackers."

"Wait, Tseng?"

But he was already bounding away. Rude gave chase but two corners later and the redhead had disappeared. Rude took a left then stopped short.

_Right, where were the elevators again? _

xXx

"That would explain the catatonic symptoms the Turk described but to stall the growth of all the remaining specimens, which was your _supposed_ aim, is laughable. You know nothing of what is incubating in that body and I will not allow you anymore reckless attempts to interfere with my research. Go over my department again and I will take this matter straight to the President."

Scarlett eyed the detestable, old man in front of her with venom letting the lash of his impudent tongue slide off her before stepping forward. Nature had gifted her with natural height and her blazing red high heels from Midgar's most highly paid shoe maker had given her a couple of inches more. It gave most of her feet a safer distance from the stained and slippery floor even if it did not elevate her nose high enough to evade the acrid smell of chemicals concentrated around Hojo. By now she was used to acts of intimidation being as effective as throwing cups of water at a forest fire but she knew, at least this time, were to get under his oily skin.

"I have more authority than you do old man and you are supposed to be ridding the bacteria not breeding it, those were your orders and I have done half the work for you." She smirked seeing how the old goats face twisted like it was in physical pain, "I will not hesitate to repeat your remarks to Veld if _you_ interfere with _me_."

A moment of delicious triumph and then he turned his back on her ruining it. If she wasn't already beyond the bounds of comfort being within meters proximity of the scientist she would have grabbed him by this filthy lab coat and demanded his attention. "You are taking up my valuable time, leave those reports and get out of my laboratory." She despised how he treated her with such insolence, who cared if he treated everyone the same way- only interested if the prospect of dissecting you or stewing you in a big tube at the end of the day was possible - she would not be treated in such a manner or regarded as a mere thing by anyone. Still she only held her head high and wrapped her thicker than usual shawl tighter around her. Despite her reputation for only owning provocative dresses she always managed to fully cover herself when visiting the labs.

She sneered at the back of his greasy head, thinking how she'd love to be pointing a gun at it with finger midway through pulling the trigger. "Laboratory? Is that what you call this upper floor dungeon? And as much as I would like to get out I still have more to discuss with you."

"I have no time for you."

Gritting her teeth, unmindful of the hideous expression it produced on her tenderly make-upped face, Scarlett took three calming breathes. Unfortunately the air was so clogged with particles of things best left unidentified it very nearly killed her. Meanwhile, Hojo had restarted whatever work she had interrupted, pouring a vial of something pink into a beak of something putrid. Her hand slapped up across her nose and mouth while she noted the little freak had donned a face mask without saying anything. Still she wasn't leaving until she'd come for what she wanted even if she had to speak through her hand which produced an undignified squashed nose, nasally quality in her voice. It was so demeaning.

"I know it's not just for those little bugs that you're taking your time on a direct request from the top. Veld's had Turks all over your research and you've recovered more than what you've been letting on. If it goes back up to the President you've been lying your precious labs would be inundated with Turks and all your research stopped. You'd be thrown out of the company – back to the sewer where you came from."

The attempt at an insult was ineffective as usual and as if to rile her temper even more he began to hum saying in a sing-songy way, "False Allegations, false threats, do not insult my intelligence."

Biting her tongue she forced herself to stare at what could have been an eye, but was now a yellowed orb floating in solution. She stared at it for a long time. This was how you dealt with Hojo or how she did. Snipe and threaten but through in provide enough suggestions and bits to plant seeds of interest then wait for them to take root.

Gradually he slowed down whatever he was doing to mull on something and she just had to time it right, pull him in as soon as she knew he thought round to what she'd really been saying. "I could let enough slip to let you get enough of what you want."

"I do not require your services I can get what I want any time I need." Hojo's nasty reedy voice, even after a short pause hearing it again sent another cold wave across the flesh and made you want to back far, far away. It was executive gossip that the scientist was a bit of a pervert and the thought of him touching anyone in that way brought vomit to her mouth. You'd have to be very sick or desperate for money to let him touch you, she thought. Again she steeled herself, laced her words with derision, taunting and suggestiveness and went for the kill.

"Without being underhand? I doubt it. Truth is even you can't get exactly what you want but I could get you second best and fresh, or have you fired."

Slowly, he turned back to face her, expression a mask of boredom but she could practically feel his annoyance that she was right, only she would get him what he was itching to have or at least get something to satisfy it."You will want to look at parts of my research in exchange."

_Got it. _

"Trade keeps business rolling, Kya ha ha ha."

xXx

The following day John sat beside Tabby in the canteen, with Jim taking up the side opposite them. They were a bald head away from normalcy but he was just enjoying not having Lyon looming around their friend today. He had not got round to asking Tabby where her partner was and he had no intention to, it gave him a headache listening to her gush about him. A couple of tables away he'd spotted his brother lunching with Jordo and Doug. Rude was not with them and looking around the big man was not with Freya or Manube either. It rang some bells in his head but again he kept them to himself otherwise the other two would go into a mothering frenzy. Their introvert pal could look after himself; it had taken weeks for him to just accept the three of them latching to him like limpets to a rock. When he actually responded to them near the end of their exams it had been considered a private triumph. Everyone knew he was a nice guy, did not begrudge anyone any help but the wall of silence had kept people away, especially after the incident with Rude's previous friend. But John supposed he felt obliged to hang around him after the help the bald man gave him in the fourth exam, same for Jim and Tabby and Tracker. He helped them and they hung around waiting for a chance to pay him back. So long story short Rude may just be off enjoying his own company somewhere.

Tabby accidentally brushed against his jacket reaching for the bowl of communal chips. The way the hairs on his arm prickled the material might as well have not been there. He glanced at Tabby but she did not seem aware, now holding a chip ready to pop into her mouth when she stopped laughing. Jim must have said something funny. Lately he'd been supersensitive to everything; it could have been a latent effect of almost being killed by Marko and his stress before the tournament. Oddly though, now it was over the whole event was locked into a hazy bubble in his mind, like he was determined to forget it ever happened. Oh well if all the weird gossip Jim reported was true he'd have worse memories to push down in the future.

"I've been having really weird dreams lately." Jim informed them and John wondered if they were continuing a topic or had started a new one.

Tabby nodded excitedly, they were both in very animated moods. "So have I. Like last night I dreamt there was a sand tsunami and then monsters came out and took over Midgar. It was so scary; Lyon said I woke up screaming."

"That's awful Tabs." John said trying to sound sympathetic but not pulling it off very well. Thankfully they did not comment on his belated arrival into the conversation.

"I woke up crying from mine," Jim said. You had to speculate if the older man was trying to one up Tabby but John did recall his partners looking slightly puffy this morning. Tabby looked ready to lend a hand of comfort until Jim continued, "because I was crying in my dream about a sandwich."

...

The younger rookies looked at each other than back at Jim.

"...Was it a really bad sandwich?" John asked forcing down the want to outright laugh at the anticlimax.

"No someone took it." Jim explained.

"That's just rude." Tabby said in mock shock but quickly bit her bottom lip to trap a snicker that almost escaped. It was so easy to tell when she wanted to laugh.

John went for a more theatrical route, slapping the table and declaring, "The sandwich stealing fiend." He knew Jim would like it.

"Yeah and there were other sandwiches there but they were for other days, I had to have this _exact_ sandwich. Weird."

Rolling his eyes John supposed some dream interpreter in a remote village some place would have a meaningful answer but hey, they might as well have a go. It wasn't like there was much else to talk about. "Weird about being finicky about the sandwiches or that you were reduced to tears over a stolen one."

"I don't know. It all felt very important." Jim said rather seriously.

"...but why sandwiches?" John pressed.

"Maybe he fancied one before he went to bed." Tabby offered.

"I asked if he wanted one but he said no."

"Well in future John you should make him one just in case." She said sternly, but she was giggling on the inside obviously. He played along, sighing in a put upon manner.

"Suppose, can't risk anymore sandwich related nightmares now can we."

"Hmm maybe the sandwich thief was you!" She suddenly exclaimed as if she'd solved a great puzzle but he could do that to.

"Or maybe he wanted my sandwich and his subconscious turned me into the villain!" John pointed a dramatic finger at the ceiling; he had picked up a useful catalogue of theatrical gestures from Jim and actually quite enjoyed showing them off, if only to add to the teasing.

"How dastardly John. How could you?"

"I am remorseful." A hand appropriate clutched his breast and he bowed his head in mock shame by which point he must have crossed a line as Jim let out a very sarcastic, "Har-Har."

Looking up to see Jim's moody face his attention was instead drawn to the silent figure standing behind his partner.

"...Should I ask?" Rude said, taking a seat beside Jim as soon as Tabby offered while saying, "Oh hey Rude, we were just talking about dreams."

Their large friend nodded that that was reasonable and John noticed it seemed he'd just got out of the shower, he still smelt soapy and there was a slight sheen in his skin. "Jim had a traumatic one last night. Tell him about the sandwiches Jim."

"Tell him about the sandwiches Jim, jeez." Jim mimicked John's pushy tone to a 'T'.

Rude looked sufficiently confused now "...Sandwiches?"

"He woke up crying because in his dream someone stole his sandwich." John explained.

"...I see."

"And in mine Midgar was overrun with monsters." Tabby supplied.

Again Rude nodded but then turned his shades on John again waiting for his contribution. With his custom serious face and those impenetrable shades their pal was really an intimating sight. Before you were drawn in by the soft brown of his irises, now you started noticing his large shoulders that supported the powerful muscles that could dent metal walls a bit more. It took him a moment to recall the last dream he had and unfortunately it was rather boring.

"I can't remember much of mine; I think the guy that sells jewellery in the slums was in it though. I think it looked like him but he wasn't selling jewellery and he was telling me I had to be somewhere but I kept waiting for ...someone to show up but they never did."

"That it?" Jim sounded very disappointed in him.

"All I can remember."

"How about you Rude?" Tabby asked, like a teacher trying to get the shy child to join in.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Nothing at all." Jim was getting even more disappointed but to be fair it would take them a while to top his sandwich trauma.

"I suppose filing doesn't spark the imagination." John said picking up his near empty glass and draining the remainders of his orange juice.

"Aye but the redhead kid turned up, didn't he?" Jim said, elbowing Rude. This warranted a shared despairing look between John and Tabby, they hoped he wasn't going to keep bring up that dead horse otherwise they would not blame Rude if he threw Jim down the rubbish shoot.

"Yes."

"And?"

"Helped."

"Oh, not as interesting as I hoped." Resume disappointed Jim, goodbye desperate ...whatever Jim was being.

"Things often aren't."

"Well it's been said I'm a man of high hopes."

"And sandwiches." John couldn't resist the little dig and relished the look Jim shot him.

"You two are not going to let that go are ya?"

"Well for the rest of the day, probably not." John replied cheerfully, swinging his empty glass to and fro in his hand as if he was holding a tankard.

Tabby took a more diplomatic and chiding tone, "Serves you right for telling us, though."

"Hmm." Jim was not impressed.

That seemed to exhaust that avenue of chit chat then. Tabby took some more chips and Jim proceeded to munch on the pastry of his pie- he insisted on leaving it all to last. Rude had brought what looked like a jug of water to the table and a plate full of green vegetables piled on top of unidentifiable fish meat. He also had two pieces of bread and considering the conversation before it gave John a strange urge.

"You know I really want a sandwich now." He said aloud.

"But you've just eaten."

"Not to eat, just to you know hold." He explained.

"You want to hold a sandwich?" Jim had some cheek using that tone on him; it was exactly the same ton John had used on him before.

"When you say it like that, it sounds odd."

"And just holding a sandwich just for the sake of holding it isn't a little odd?"

"Are all your conversations as deep as this?"

For a second time their eyes were drawn to a figure hovering near their table. The weird little redheaded Turk beamed at them and- as surprised as they were -they all smiled back, Rude's did not look like a smile but if you knew him long enough he was definitely smiling. Tabby looked particularly pleased but John couldn't help glance around them noticing Marko looking at their table with unhidden annoyance and was it him or were quite a few people suddenly finishing at the same time? Still he quickly looked at their new guest and still in a jovial mood said, "Stick around and they can go to very deep and dark places indeed."

"Some might say to where the sun doesn't shine." Jim contributed and earned a shin kick under the table.

"JIM!" Tabby scolded looking mortified, "That came across as insinuating."

"I meant like a _cave_." The oldest man present tried but they doubted him.

"_Sure_ you did."

"_Ooo_kay." The kid was still standing up and it looked like he may consider moving on. Maybe Tabby noticed this as she swiftly asked if he would like to join them.

"Is it safe?"

"No." Rude promptly replied.

"Then budge up big guy." The redhead grinned again and plopped himself down onto the very edge of their friend's seat, impressive considering Rude probably took up all the space. Somehow they managed to balance themselves. Another glance around confirmed their table was now definitely getting curious looks.

"We were talking about dreams." Tabby said and John wondered if she was purposely ignoring the attention they were getting or had not noticed, Rude and Jim had. Well not much they could do about it, so he tired to ignore it too. "Then sandwiches."

"And you want to hold a sandwich. Want to hold mine?" The kid offered his plate on which was a very nice sandwich John thought, a long one made with fluffy, seasoned bread that wafted 'freshly baked' scents across the table. John's mouth salivated but he swallowed it down.

"It's okay; I want to hold my own."

The bandaged face nodded, "There is something about holding a sandwich." The long thin fingers squeezed down on the bread and it bounced back under the touch, then he weighed it in his hands.

John watched him and mentally built his own sandwich to imagine holding. He built various ones, as if going through all the sandwiches of his life and was now full appreciating them. "Hmm, yeah there is actually. You can have your own style and depending on the shape and thickness it can feel different."

"Are we actually having this conversation?" Jim butted in.

John smirked, "You're one to talk sandwich dreamer."

"Sandwich Dreamer?" The kid asked.

So Tabby told the story all over again.

xXx

"Mako pits?"

He'd only started this job three weeks ago and did not feel comfortable under the scrutinising gaze of Shino. He'd wanted to work with the Turk ever since he'd read the man's publish works, of course they were under a different name, and had taken great pains to get a job connected to the Turk department. However his anxiety to please had landed him in a bad situation.

"Yes."

"What about them?" Black shades were pushed up by a single long finger, flashing in the plasma white light. The junior data gathering technician watched the movement with apt attention, resisting the desire to copy it with his own glasses.

"We believe a number of strange isolated incidents across areas below the plate could be due to prolonged Mako leaks, Sir."

The Turk nodded but most of his face was still covered by the high neck collar of the shirt he opted to wear under the standard Turk jacket, it made it very difficult to determine his mood until he spoke. "Cases of Mako poisoning aren't that rare, unfortunately."

"It's not just poisoning. There are reports of cellars filled with bodies, usually families or the homeless." The technician informed him but the news didn't seem to faze the Turk, but then it was the Turk department's job to deal with that kind of thing. As for himself he was aware of the unpleasant trickle of sweat running from his forehead to his ear and probably dripping into his thick vest, the heat generated from the monitors was to blame. The air conditioning was down again, the new systems were not harmonising easily despite what was promised and anywhere else you would be a slight discomfort in this room it was like being in a strobe lit sauna, the fluids from their bodies misting off them.

"With the bad air down there it's not surprising they'd be too weak to fight off the effects."

"Yes but of those that are surviving some are going insane, becoming psychotic even." He stressed, admittedly desperate to give something sensational enough to get a good reaction from the man he admired so much.

"And the other's survivors?" Shino asked, voice unaltered by any sort of emotion.

"Moved to other areas, but almost all have serious health problems."

"Almost? Some walk away fine?" It was like being back at school and he'd used poor grammar but the technician nodded energetically sensing this could be his moment to shine while pushing down his excitement as best he could, "Ah actually that's the interesting thing, the rest get away more than fine, almost as if they'd had weak doses of what Hojo makes for the SOLDIER program."

"How long has this been going on for?"

"Years." He said. The eagerness in his voice disappeared as the next part he was not sure he was allowed to repeat as it was not official information but more gathered hearsay in the building but he'd try anything to keep the man's attention, "In fact you know that redhead in our department."

"Go on." Shino replied and the technician dared to believe there was an interested inflexion.

"Well his records are-"

"Incomplete."

The sharpness caused the junior worker to physically flinch but he persisted, "Yes but the accounts strongly suggest he may have been under continuous exposure to mako throughout his childhood."

" That's not uncommon, be more specific."

"Well according to Cissnei they went to the same orphanage. It was located in the area beneath sector zero, close to the Mako reactor. Reeve recently ordered the evacuation and demolition of most of this area, specifically a mile radius around the reactor as there were too many leaks. Where the orphanage was located was one such leak and according to Cissnei although the children were not allowed in the basement the redhead frequently disobeyed this command. Furthermore if reports are true and he ran away from the orphanage, lived on the streets and taken in by the gang our inconclusive evidence suggests at the age they report than between the time he entered the orphanage and came to the company he developed under mako conditions that cause acute poisoning. The orphanage closed down not long ago when too many children and the staff were dying, the gangs in this area were also suffering from the effects and data suggests over half the population have or will die after five years in the area, the half that may live probably did not spend a long time in that part of the sector." He gulped while the Turk took a long time before answering.

"So you suggest he's due to pop off in a year or two?"

"No sir just the opposite." He said quickly, searching in the file he brought with him with the police accounts, "Did you know Veld had suspicions about Hojo requesting the redhead for guard duty all the time?"

"That was hardly a secret."

"Yeah," He nodded finding his file devoid of any evidence to support what he'd been saying. He was unaware Shino had already removed those parts while he'd been talking earlier since the technician was so obviously enthralled by the reflection of the monitors in Shino's steamed up glasses. "It seems professor Hojo was aware of the redhead's background and more specifically we think he knew about the leaks and wanted the redhead in order to gather evidence for a theory linked to his SOLDIER projects." He paused; waiting for a reaction but Shino was stoic.

"Don't stop. What theory?"

"That certain individuals, like the ancients, have stronger links to the planet than others. The strength varies and he is still working on what could cause this but the bottom line is these people are more resistant to Mako effects and can even benefit from them. If he's correct it'll improve our scouting for potential SOLIDERS and his Mako treatments." He informed, thinking this was obviously good news for the Turk but still he could not tell even when the man spoke if he was bothered or pleased by the news.

"I didn't think the Turks were for encouraging his immoral projects however much we are ordered to supply to them."

"There is talk treatments could be given to the Turks. Although it hasn't been documented, I've heard talk Hojo maybe slipping some into the 'medication' for the redhead's bacterium infections." Again he resorted to rumours, but in ShinRa you quickly learnt even the most farfetched tale could actually be true, especially if it involved Hojo. If it was lies you'd never find out any way. Well perhaps the Turks did, still Shino was indifferent.

"The amount of Mako products the kid's been on I doubt it'll make much of a difference. If all that hasn't killed him I fear he's indestructible, well unless he bursts."

"Funny you should say that, the reactions between treatments and the invading species are primarily what doctors think are preventing his wounds – which should have healed by now under normal procedure- from closing up. Their necessary vents to let to excess to come out. So much damage has been done they think stasis would be the best option for a full recovery." It felt safer to be back reading off reports, the technician thought, although it was difficult to tell what the Turk was thinking, when you put 'I've heard talk' and such phrases undermined the reliability of what you're saying anyway.

"Yes, yes. Get back to the point. Hojo thinks the kid's got a strong link to the planet or something and that's supposedly helpful." Shino said, showing briefly his impatience and snapping the technician back into 'nervous to inform' mode.

"It would explain a high affinity for electricity or lightening Materia. A display of aptitude to a specific element could be one indicator but professor Hojo proposes with more research there could be other signs to look for."

"The last think we need is more people climbing up the walls. Well this is very interesting but where is it leading to?"

"There has been a request for us to round up survivors from sector zero and investigate the sites of reported leaks, repaired and current. The police are already passing over many locations and Reeve is dispatching repair crews as we speak. Professor Hojo wants-"

"More lab rats." The Turk let out an impressive sigh while the technician gazed at him with even more awe for reasons best known to himself. "Very well, I will also make teams to handle the psychos. They may be linked to the random murders being reported, as if we don't have enough on our plates."

"There is talk it could be over soon." The technician tried thinking about the Wutain war but the Turk only walked away from him without looking back, stolen papers clutched in his hand.

"There is always talk."

xXx

Blackwell felt along the warped wood of the door. Dust and cobwebs clung to his fingertips. Next he examined the padlock and chain, even from a distance you could tell it was only a year old and had barely started to rust. Someone thought it necessary to keep this locked and that someone was very good at not disturbing their surroundings. Since they had not taken the time to try and make the lock looked more aged he estimated they were just above average intelligence. Closer inspection of the metal suggested it had been used recently, maybe in the last month or week, and it had been locked and unlocked frequently. It was small, not particularly a heavy duty make and wouldn't require much force to break.

Next he looked at the chain; this was made of a matted metal alloy, the outer layer was certainly oxidised which partly accounted for the lack of rust, but it was mostly due to the chain being new. The links were thick and big, impossible to break or cut without a lot of power and even then it would take a couple of hacks at it. Interestingly someone had gone to the trouble of wrapping the chain around the old crusted door handles ten, maybe twelve time. It would not have been easy and definitely a waste of energy to undo if they intended on coming back.

Finally back at the door. The dust and cobwebs were not that old. With so much building and demolition in this sector and the surroundings one and above, the tiny particles of grit, rock and metal quickly coated everything; this also made the cobwebs look older. He kicked a carcass of the spinner who probably made the web he'd destroyed. It was nearly the size of his boot and a good sized cloud of filthy powder came off of it. Still soft it was only a couple of days old.

It was doubtful anyone was coming to check on this place anytime soon. That eliminated an outside human threat, so there was just the possibility of inside ones, he hoped. He crouched properly before the lock and took out a thin, metal pin. Just before he started unpicking it though he paused. The air smelt wrong. Damp wood, steep, rust and sand from the wastes were as he expected but there was something else, ammonium definitely and something sweeter. Leaning towards a crack in the wood he smelt through the moss the unforgettable odor of rancid Mako and a hint of fresh, tingling new Mako. There was a leak in this building and bad one at that. Before he pulled away a bit of wind whistled through the crack, bringing out weaker smells. Unwashed bodies, urea, blood. It stopped and they were masked again.

He turned back towards the street. Wary of putting his back to the door but no longer certain of being alone. Slowly he stood up, stepped back and down the steps and kept going until the dirty air blurred the features of the doors. Now he had space to fight.

He waited and they eventually came, appearing like a dark smear through the slum pollution. As the smear became a man he knew they could see him. After a moment Blackwell relaxed, thinking to himself that you could know a person too well if you could identify them by their hazy silhouette.

He gave the old signal and Virgil sped up, meeting him at the tangled remains of the house's small, wrought iron gates. "I thought I had this site alone," Blackwell said by ways of greeting.

Virgil ran a hand through his steel grey hair, produced an old, grey Stetson from within the long, shabby coat he chose to wear over his normal Turk suit and put it on. "I am as surprised as you. Intel told me to come here, they said nothing about you."

"That's becoming a bit too common for my liking."

"And mine too, but you can't be too careful when dealing with this level mission," Virgil said, casually strolling up the path one hand in his coat pocket the other on his gun examining everything Blackwell had. The place was overgrown and derelict. The demolition crew had done a shoddy job, it was barely recognisable as a building but still inhabitable for the desperate and there were plenty of those around. They'd done the work right everywhere else nearby and both men wondered, why not here? As Virgil walked up the steps Blackwell beside him, he muttered, "No doubt when Hojo finally masters his super race project they will do this work."

"When that happens I am retiring." Blackwell bent down and resumed picking the lock. Virgil just chortled and kept a look out.

It took less than thirty seconds for the lock to click open; Blackwell held it steady to reduce the sound. If anything was on the other side of the door they did not want to alert it. He counted to ten in his head, poised on the balls of his feet to spring back if anything suddenly tried to burst through the doors. Nothing happened but he smelt the blood again. He looked at Virgil who nodded and started to slowly unravel the chain from around the handles. Blackwell helped, lifting and guiding it so the links did not clank together, spreading it and snaking it over the porch and down the stairs. The level of care he was taking caused Virgil to hesitate opening the doors. Hands on the rusted metal he braced himself, also feeling that there was something wrong with this place.

Sucking in and pushing out the polluted air he tried to ease the door open but the wood had swelled in the damp and the cold had frozen it into place. He had to tug, the doors scrapped against each other and screeched across the cracked cement. He paused and looked at Blackwell who was tense like a cat caught by surprise. The air that escaped from the crack was chilled and rotten, the remaining structure channelling the slightest breeze into mourning winds but nothing else stirred. He tugged several more times, opening it enough to provide a swift exit.

Stepping inside there was plenty of light, from the door they entered, broken windows, holes in the upper floor and walls. There was no roof and everything beyond the staircase had fallen through creating a back wall of rumble and rubbish. On surface level they only had to search the front living room and what could have been a dining room. Blackwell searched there; Virgil looked in the living room. There was table set out neatly for six, a fireplace, wooden showcase cabinet and bookcase. The floor was wooden but a big, old fashioned, floral patterned rug covered most of the floor. The decoration was to the taste of an elderly woman, flowers, doilies, baby animals painted on the foreign produced teacups and saucers laid out before each seat. Aside from the thick layer of sandy coloured dust and lumps of cement that had fallen through and knocked over some things, like a vase and umbrella stand, it was untouched and eerily still. He expected the old woman to be standing at the door when he turned round, demanding what he was doing in her house.

He felt Virgil enter instead and he did not have to say anything for Blackwell to know the other room was in the same state. He said, "There are no rats."

Virgil nodded. Normally they would have taken over a place like this if only for nesting and hunted in the surrounding area. Not a squeak or scrabble had been heard and that was a bad sign. "The basement, according to Reeve's plans these buildings all had them. The entrance is under the stairs. It's locked another padlock, big and heavy. Also the original door has been replaced by a heavy steel one."

Blackwell nodded, feeling the danger of the room they were in ease but apprehensive of what could be locked behind the steel doors . When he was younger he would have first thought such a formidable lock was meant to deter other thieves from another crooks stash, designed with keeping people out in mind. Experience taught him you were more likely to find the plan was to keep something in, kidnapped scientists for drug production or young girls for prostitution, improvised torture chambers, mass graves or just someone's ghosts they'd wanted to keep buried. They would discover what secrets this place was holding, they always did.

However as he reached for his pins Virgil placed a gloved hand on his arm, hard and firm demanding attention. "I think we should call for re-enforcements before we go further." Blackwell did not say anything, Virgil's presence was already one person too many for his preference. "Something is not right here."

"You can stay, I'll look."

"No, I want to go with you."

"Stay, someone needs to see if anyone is coming."

"You cannot go down alone. You shouldn't go down at all."

"And waste the time coming here? I will just have a look."

The more he looked at the lock and the scratched, yellowing metal the more intrigued he became. The building felt like it was waiting, the atmosphere whispered with expectation and it all centred on what was behind the door. The air leaking from under it was even colder than the temperature they stood in now. The basement went deep; there could be tunnels down there, stores of stolen equipment. Virgil could be more worried of what may follow them down, every time he glimpsed a curtain move his eyes darted madly reassessing the danger, looking for a menacing face to be staring at them through the window or standing in the doorway. Maybe there was danger in front as well as behind but they could cope, and he did not want to wait for re-enforcements. Or more accurately be encumbered by trooper green horns swamping the place, shooting without aim and blowing things up for haste's sake. Virgil was still giving him his stern look but Blackwell was not bending, "Just a look," he assured, "then I'll come straight back out and contact HQ but someone needs to keep a look out."

"Fine."

Blackwell got to work on the lock, it took less time than the one at the front door and the door swung open much easier as well. The smell hit them first, choking and vile, forcing them back just to get over the shock.

Bodies, there were defiantly bodies down there in the darkness. Mud, human waste and blood, the scent of the latter so rich it conjured images of a floor bathed in sticky red. He took out his flashlight and descended. Ten steps down his light hit a pale, naked figure that appeared to have flung itself onto the landing at the bottom of this set of stairs, half its body concealed round a corner. The stairs must go further down. It was too starved to distinguish the gender and so covered in blood he thought it was a corpse. He did not move but it did.

It's breathe was raspy, barely audible over the softly howling wind rising up from below, but it was getting stronger. As if the light of the torch was giving it energy. Lucky for him he saw it before its eyes adjusted to the light to see him. Tangled mass, of wiry white hair, matted by slick, glistening blood that smeared all over its face, especially round the mouth were pointed teeth peaked through the shrivelled lips. The tongue flickered out to lick at the blood as small, black eyes gradually made him out. A wicked smile bared more horrible pointed teeth, like a fishes and misshaped hands with long, overgrown nails reach out for the next step. It was looking straight at him.

"Help us...Help us," It pulled itself forward, getting almost to all fours. Something, maybe a woman let out an ear piercing scream beyond and Blackwell felt Virgil race to the top of the stairs but saw the excitement in the thing crawling up. "Help, Help us. Help us." It called and whined, dragging itself towards them.

"Holy infrit."

Blackwell couldn't say anything but hearing Virgil's voice broke him from the trance of the little black pits that were getting closer and closer.

"...Help, Help..."

More voices called up from the black and the wicked blood covered smile got bigger.

"Run," He said, taking two steps back as fast as he could.

The face below twisted into something hideous, it let out an animal snarl and the maddening screams erupted like an explosion. It got up, done with playing weak and streaked up the stairs, "Help us, _Help us, HELP US_!"

Blackwell shoved Virgil away and slammed the door, crushing a wrist. The clawed hand hung rattling by sinews of torn skin and tendons as its owner battled to get out but they had already clicked the padlock into place. The steel muffled some of the inhuman cries and the tearing, crunching, slipping noises but not the thump of the dead hand hitting the wood floor or the nails shooting out from under the door and scratching at their boots, pulling that their laces.

"HelpHELPHELP_HELP_HELPHELP_HELP_HELPHelphelp...help..._Help_, Help, helphelphelpHELPHELP"

Breathing hard Blackwell looked at Virgil, Virgil was looking at the front door, and a group of men and a woman was looking at them. Like that had not been enough excitement for one day.

There were six of them.

Two of the men carried old model ShinRa stun guns; at full power they could knock a man out for several hours. The other three had hunks of wood, or piping to club with, the woman had a dagger.

"You're not leaving," The man standing a little ahead of the others said. He could have been their leader but the way he spoke was unhealthy and eyeing the rest they must all have the same sickness. Blackwell wanted them to open their mouths; he wondered if he'd see fish teeth. Virgil did not care for that.

"Not even hell outside could keep me here."

The group had only time to smile like the insane before the Turk turned his gun on them, killing three in an instant. The woman darted into the living room while Virgil took out the speaker and the other man who'd ran at them, plank of wood held uselessly high.

They did not bother chasing her; Blackwell watched to see if she'd pounce on them as they dashed through the exploded brains and twitching corpses of her fellows to the door. She didn't, but she stared after them as they jumped over the gate's remains and stopped at a heap of cement and brick across what was once a road.

"I'm phoning HQ," Virgil said, PHS to his ear, thumb on speed dial. He turned his back on the screaming building but Blackwell couldn't look away. The woman could still run out at any moment, could unlock the door and let that thing out and -from the noises - what else was down there.

A terrible scream erupted from within the house, higher pitched than the rest, terrified and closer, but it was abruptly cut off. Blackwell stepped in front of Virgil as the man gave their co-ordinates but Blackwell knew it was already too late for that.

He reached for the Materia, top class, already hot to the touch and he held it tight, letting the orb suck up his tense energy until it glowed. He pulled it out as something emerged from the house, running or lumbering down the path.

"I summon Infrit."

And the world exploded in flames.

xXx

"Oi! Why're watching that rubbish, yah know ShinRa doesn't broadcast_ actual_ news, right?"

Rude and Marko jumped in the seats and the front door slammed shut. Reno wasted no time striding over and gracefully perching himself on the back of Rude's chair, socked feet landing on the rookies shoulders.

"Hey, why are you...I mean how'd you get in? Get out." Marko barked, he was still sat down but looking frazzled. They had another long day of investigating a minor dispute between workers in public relations, one accusing another of sabotage since they were both in line for a promotion. From looking through surveillance, taking prints and interrogation they had done the whole nine yards. Rude was quite happy for Marko to take the lead on this but it meant his day had been very boring. He'd given up trying to make suggestions; Marko preferred doing everything by himself since it was much easier to take all the credit at the end of it. It did mean they finished much later than they could have done since Rude realised earlier the Saboteur was more likely to be another co-worker, one that would also benefit if the man they had been investigating got the promotion. Marko eventually came to that conclusion and long story short it was all solved in the end and the criminal was reprimanded.

"I came to see the great bald one here," Reno told Marko, tapping Rude's head as if anyone needed confirmation of who he was talking about. "and it wasn't locked, I say that's an open invitation."

On the sofa Marko started to tremble and go pink from suppressing his urge to scream. Rude did not quite understand why his partner had such a dislike for Reno. He appreciated Marko's anger with himself, it must be raw being stuck with one of the few men that beat you in a public arena as a partner and on top of that aided the brother he was determined to put down. All the redhead did was pop up when you least expected him and disregard rules, unless during the wakeup call event he'd done something despicable to Marko or maybe it was because they owed Reno their lives. He would probably never get to the bottom of it; he'd probably never exchange a civil word with his partner.

"Well it isn't...and they automatically lock."

"So they do, I was just testin' ya. Congratulations ya pass." Reno said cheerily, "Now if you don't mind Imma going to have a private word with your partner, that okay Mr Stuck up?"

"Oi, watch your mouth slum rat." Marko snarled and Rude felt like punching him feeling offended on behalf of the Kid but Reno did not seem to mind.

"I would if I had a mirror."

"Urgh," The rookie superstar stood up, done with the intruder. "If I come back and this place is a mess Rude I will make your life hell."

"Like ya don't already, where ya goin'?" Reno said, as they watched Marko grab his Jacket he'd hung by the door.

"None of your business." He said, opening the door and slamming it when he left. The lock clicked and then there was just the voice of the anchor informing them of a high profile marriage that had taken place that day.

"Well that's an improvement." Reno said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on Rude's head. When the rookie looked up he nearly got an elbow in each eye.

"What is?"

"He called ya by your name." The kid elaborated looking down at Rude with a big grin, his single eye swirling bright blue and green because of the television.

"Hmm, so _what are_ you doing here?"

"Two things," A peace sign was brandished before Rude's shades. "One I'm hiding from everyone."

That did not sound good, "Why?"

"I don't want to go into the labs."

"Is it for your health?"

"They have an infirmary for that stupid," Rude just stared at Reno not impressed and the kid backtracked, "...and sometimes the labs but it's not like that today, alright."

He sighed, turning back to the telly and wondering if he was going to get into trouble, "Fine you can stay here and what else?"

"I have real news! I have to tell you." Reno stamped his feet on Rude's shoulders – it felt quite nice actually - but he sighed again, deeper so it seemed he was just putting up with the redhead's antics not enjoying them.

"Go on."

"Did you see the broadcast on the fires in sector zero?"

"Yes. You're going to tell me it wasn't terrorist arson attacks?"

"Jackpot, as shiny as your crown big fella." Reno cheered drumming said crown until Rude grabbed him by the elbows and flipped him over. The Turk avoided get his joints twisted by springing from the rookies' shoulders and flipping in a fluid movement while Rude guided him to land safety in his lap, but his elbows were still in the larger man's sure grip and Rude held on a little longer than necessary as a silent warning to the younger man. It did nothing in regards to the redhead's giddy mood and he excitedly carried on chattering. "Our department is responsible, and you'll never guess who it was."

"Some of the rookies?" Rude guessed wondering why the kid was telling it like it was good news, surely that meant the Turks would be in trouble with the head of city planning.

"Oh, not even a cherry." Sighed Reno continuing his casino references, "Virgil and Blackwell in fact, the ones I mentioned the other night. This is big news pal, they majorly screwed up."

"And you're happy?"

"Oh yeah, their record makes them practically beyond reproach but Hojo was having a right tantrum. I don't know why but it was funny watching the old crab dance before I made a run for it." Reno explained.

"You were in the labs?"

"Nah, he cornered me in the corridor but then he heard the TV in one of the lounges, he started yelling some stuff and stomped about. He probably really wanted whatever they'd been sent to find." The kid shrugged examining his nails as a big grin spread across his face while he mental recalled the event.

"Probably."

"And that's the news, our two oldest and boldest Turks let loose Infrit in the slums and are getting a psychiatrist examination, must have been pretty bad." Concluded Reno as he swung his legs to the floor and relaxing into Rude's chest.

"It's a bad time."

Reno did not find the position that comfortable so swung his legs back over Rude's left arm and elongated himself as much as possible. "Yeah and so long as ShinRa is in power it'll only get worse."

"What?" That sounded rather anti-ShinRa to Rude.

"Ya don't believe the propaganda do ya?"

Rude was beginning to become wary of this conversation and how the kid seemed to enjoy the fact that he thought he could be a dissident, which considering it was Reno could mean anything. Rude hoped it was just the redhead liking to put people in uncomfortable positions, such as invading their personal space. He seemed like someone who'd say anything just to pull pigtails if he could get away with it. Now onto the question, he did not want to say yes because he did not want to be seen as gullible but then he didn't want to sound like he did not trust the company in case it was some Turk test to check the rookies were loyal.

Suddenly it felt like he was walking on thin ice.

After several minutes with the single piecing gaze never once leaving his face he said, "Not really, I just..." He just what? Thought the company had the citizen's best interests at heart? That sounded naive even to him especially now he'd spend a couple of days as a proper employee, that and he had lived in the slums.

Lucky Reno spoke before Rude could think anymore, "Heh, don't worry I think rebels and whatever fighters are all a load of nonsense too, same with do-gooders they're just fancy words."

Well that was a relief Rude supposed but rather depressing too. "_Do_ you believe in anything?"

Reno shrugged.

"Hmm," Rude frowned, so deep lines appeared in his forehead. The redhead watched them appear with fascination, the rookie hoped he was not going to come out with some flippant remark about being old.

"Don't tell me ya thinking the 'to be so young and so cynical' line, Veld's already given me that." He said instead, surprising Rude on two accounts.

"You've told Veld?"

"Sure. He asked."

Again the rookie was awed by how...well easy and casual Reno made everything sound. Their chief commander had an aura of intimidating authority, like a strict father which made you keen to please but equally wary of upsetting. Reno, if he could say that to the commander, was immune to it or just did not care. In a way it sort of made a joke of the man's power if Reno could get away with so much and Veld was greatly respected as far as Rude by everyone under his command. He was starting to get an even clearer picture of why the redhead may not be so well liked. Mostly though he was impressed by the cynicism, maybe that's why Veld let him get away with it. Sometimes something is just too much that it's better to leave it.

"Wouldn't it be nice to believe in something?" Rude tried.

"Nice if there was something to believe in." Reno countered like he'd said it a million times before, possibly even to their commander.

"The Gods?"

"Not much faith required, Infrit made a convincing job of toasten sector zero." The kid smirked and Rude gave up.

"Well what do you want?"

He had not intended it to come out quite as annoyed as it did, really what did he care if Reno had faith or not, there were plenty delusional people on Gaia. After all he only had his master's teachings. It was not so much a faith but it kept him believing. Reno rolled off him, dropping onto the floor and crawled onto the sofa and stretched out. Rude hoped he had not upset him, he seemed put out. It was a while before he spoke, "Do you watch human's Rude?"

"Yes."

"Like what ya see?"

"Mostly, yes."

Reno bit his lip then said, "I don't."

Rude waited for him to say more but that's all he had to say, it made him sad. "Well at least you're honest."

"Am I?"

"Are you?"

"I asked you first."

"How would I know?"

Reno smiled, "Maybe you'll find out."

"Maybe I will."

"That guy really doesn't like us, eh." Reno said, abruptly changing topic.

"Who? Marko?"

"No the Wutain Emperor, of course Marko." Reno made a noise under his breath, it sounded suspiciously like 'jeez' but he was still smiling so the rookie supposed he meant it all good naturedly. "What did ya do?"

"_I _don't know. Spilt coffee on his trousers-"

"He didn't like ya before all that." The Turk cut him off although it sounded like he approved of Rude ruining his partner's clothes.

"Helped John in the exams."

"Ah," A sage nod accompanied this and the Turk laced his fingers across his chest, "so he's that kind of a guy."

"What kind?"

"If you do him a favour he'll never forgive ya." Reno explained, as if that made any more sense. Actually he could sort of see what he meant, Marko would much rather have an excuse to complain about him than thank him. Still he thought it was something else.

"...I don't think that's it. They just seem to have a serious rivalry- no more like dislike for each other."

"Hmmm, I wonder why that is."

Rude shrugged, "It is between them."

"Pfft, that's not the attitude of a Turk." Reno scolded mildly but Rude was learning the Turk liked it if you pushed back a little.

"And riffling through other people's business is."

"Exact-o, we leave no stone unturned and no corner overlooked, because we are the Turks." He said grandly and Rude was reminded of Jim, "Without us the wrinkles of corruption would be much deeper in this prune of a city."

Rude chuckled, "Is pessimism a job requirement as well?"

"Hehe, you learn it." The redhead stretched his head back, the bandages on his neck slipped revealing some yellowed bruising; Rude had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from asking. The kid was happy and good company, he did not want to mess that up. Not that he was walking on egg shells but he was learning when not to push, perhaps if this...acquaintance kept up he wouldn't have to be so careful. Seemed typical though that the resident oddball would pick him to keep pestering when Rude was unequipped with the people skills to know how to deal with him. John, Jim and Tabby, and even Youji had all been different. It was subtle but they all or had been aware that he was more socially awkward so compensated. He had got used to that but he actually preferred the kid's way of treating him, it was just like how he seemed to treat everyone else. Also he couldn't seem to clam up around the redhead, even if the kid managed to talk for two people. While Rude had been looking at him Reno had been watching the television, "So ya going to change channel or what?"

Rude shrugged, "I'm not interested in fictional programs."

One of Reno's eyebrows arched high while the other furrowed so the bandaged eye was probably wrinkled up and the rest of his face completed the expression associated with exaggerated disbelief or 'are-you-kidding-me', "Erm you know what I said before _implied_ the news is fictional too right?"

"I got that." He made no effort to change the channel although he did notice the remote had found its way to his arm rest when before we was certain it had been on the coffee table.

"...Chocobo tales is on three around this time." Reno suggested casually looking about the room and fiddling with the corner of a pillow.

Half way through the action of automatically pressing the three button Rude's brain fully processed what it had just heard. His finger stopped just above the button. Quelling his amusement he tried to sound admonishing, "That's a _child's_ program. How old are you?" Unfortunately a little bit of humour got through and Reno pounced on the weakness with a confident 'so-what-if-I-like-it' attitude.

"Old enough to enjoy it."

"If you really want." Rude shook his head and pressed the button. He watched the redhead change from fake sulky to juvenile joy when the vibrant colours lit up the living room and the looped tune that would stick in his head for weeks came out of the speakers.

"You are the best man." Reno cheered eyes on the screen, the chocobo was checking behind a tree for something and then a fluffy woodland creature popped out. Rude was almost drawn into their pointless dialogue when Reno asked, "Got anything in yet?"

"What?"

"Food, what ya got?" The kid repeated.

Rude thought for a moment, "Bread and cereal...wait just cereal."

"And no milk," Reno eyed him like he was from another planet, "nice."

"Most people are lactose intolerant." Rude pointed out as the Chocobo and its new woodland friend went down a path towards a darker bit of forest.

"But you have cereal."

"I don't understand why it's there either." Again Rude shrugged, it'd almost been comparatively relaxing and peaceful with just Marko in the room. Not speaking did not require much thinking after all, he wasn't quite in the mood to explain the reasons for their provided food stocks.

"Get rid of it if you're not going to eat it, you rookies are so lazy."

"Then there will be no food."

"Shops are still open, we can go get some." Reno suggested, looking at the clock on the wall. Rude thought the kid ought to have a watch of his own.

"But I thought you wanted to watch this?"

"It's a repeat and mind if I take the cereal."

Rude shrugged no one was eating it, "No, knock yourself out."

With a cheer the redhead zipped off from his seat and into the kitchen faster than you should run around an apartment, (there being furniture and not that much room in-between things naturally made it difficult to pick up speed). A couple of cupboards banged before an pleased exclaimation announced the cereal had been located, "Great, it's got berries in and when my Tonberry hatches I need to stock my supplies. This is a good start."

Had Rude heard correctly? He did not think so but instead of letting it slide which probably would have been sensible he checked anyway, "A Tonberry? You have a Tonberry, where?" His tone implied he hoped Reno had got the word Tonberry mixed up and he had meant to say something else.

Alas when he looked round the red mop was nodding as Reno continued to examine the cereal box, "In my apartment- but you are the only one I've told so keep it secret."

He gaped at the back of Reno's head for a good while. Surely he was pulling his leg, yet the tell tale signs of a trickster stringing you along weren't showing. There was no looking over the shoulder to give a sly smirk upon witnessing Rude's expression, no shaking of the shoulders trying to hold back laughter , no...Rude forgot what the other signs were but the point was Reno had nothing but sincerity and a disturbing lack of concern about him that meant he was not joking. "It'll murder you in your sleep." Rude said.

"It's an experiment," sighed Reno in the manner of someone who has had to explain it a hundred times, "are they born with the creepy instinct to stab things or do they learn it?" He turned and with a dreamy look added, " Wouldn't it be cool if it imprinted on me."

"No."

Reno's fall expression dropped and he puffed out his cheeks, "You have no imagination." He came behind Rude's chair and out of nowhere whacked the poor rookie on the head with the cereal, "you're ignorance is stifling." He hit him with the flat side so it did not actually hurt but Rude hoped this would not become their dynamic. He wondered how they ended up with a 'their' anything.

Trying to be sensible he chided, "Your recklessness is beyond belief. Where did it come from?"

"I can't tell you."

Anyone else may have scowled at this point; Rude almost did, but quickly opted for the patient approach, "Why?"

"Because I have said too much already."

"You won't be able to keep it." He pressed and for good measure looked over his shades at the Turk. It was an impressive skill to look down on someone who was standing over you, Rude wasn't quite managing it but there was no smart mouth or dodging comeback at least. "Reno, I strongly advise you put it back wherever you got it from."

No looking at him Reno replied,"I can't."

"Oh Holy, why not?"

Reno bit his lip, "I can't tell you."

This did not sound good at all. Well a Tonberry was involved so it wouldn't but it was getting worse. Being sensible he gave the most logical solution, "Destroy it then."

"No." The Turk screeched in horror reaching an impressive pitch if Rude may say so and it was funny to see the cereal be thrown into the air, then caught and held close as if it were the creature Rude suggested be destroyed. Jim would have been impressed with the kid's melodramatics most certainly.

"It's you or the Tonberry Reno." He said more firmly.

"If Rufus can have a killer pet so can I."

"He can do whatever he likes, you can't and he doesn't have a Tonberry does he?"

"Well no but-"

"Get rid of it."

"Can't we wait until it hatches and have a strike system? If it tries to kill me three times than it goes." Reno pleaded still hugging the cereal and making Rude question the Turk's mental age actually being above 5 now.

"Getting rid of an egg is much easier." He reasoned then rethought what Reno had said, "And what is this we business?"

"I've told you now, you're an accessory in the crime."

"I am not."

"So you're going to rat on me?" Another look of fear was directed at Rude, less extreme and more genuine. Rude mayn't be able to go over to the kid's dwelling and smash the egg but he could definitely snitch on him. Lucky for Reno he was not that kind of man.

"No."

"Than you shall be mother Rude." Just like that the mood changed and Rude lost control of the situation.

"What?"

"Or Mother Berry, that's negotiable but I draw the line on Mother Rudeberry." Reno carried on while Rude tried to catch up.

"If I am being dragged into this, then I'm being the father at least." Wait, no he was not going along with this he needed to get back on the 'getting rid of the egg' track not go along with parenthood one. Oh but Reno was already prancing about his apartment with the cereal and shouting at him did not seem appropriate, "Alright then, that'll make me the cool big brother or awesome uncle."

Slumping back into his seat he watched Reno twirl passed the television, new Chocobo Tale was starting he noticed and when the redhead got close enough he asked, "Then why was I given the mother title?"

Reno stopped just in front of him looking too pleased for Rude to have the heart to be mean, "You ask a lot of questions."

"Because I am a Turk." He sighed.

"Good for you Dad."

"You're being the uncle."

"Whatever you say bro."

Rude slapped a hand to his face, upsetting his shades and rubbed his temples, "I can't believe I am doing this."

"Heh, I'll inform ya as soon as it hatches." Reno said from somewhere across the room sounding a little triumphant to the rookie.

"Is that soon?"

"No idea."

"Swell."

Reno continued to prance, more in time with the Chocobo tune which was making a memorable imagine in Rude's brain but not making him feel much better about suddenly being roped into having some responsibility for a monster somewhere in Midgar and breaking rules. Lamenting over the strange shaky sensation he was experiencing and wondering how he'd look at Veld without betraying some guilt (he hated disappointing his senior ranks especially those he respected,) a vibration against his thigh startled him.

"Is this your PHS?" He asked holding up the sleek, shaking and buzzing device.

Reno stopped whatever he had started when Rude zoned out. "Yeah, it ringin'?"

_Obviously. _

"Yeah."

"Throw it over, I'll catch it." Believing in the Turk's confidence Rude lobbed it in his direction. There was a bad series of thumps and bangs. "Oh no I didn't," Reno merrily called from the floor. Rude rolled his eyes in despair but listened intently to the one side of the conversation, "Yes? Yes...honestly yes. I did everything...Well yeah I had help...no whips were involved...yeah...oh do you like them?...why not? ...Well that one you had to be there but don't tell me you didn't smile at little at the forest one, you did I can tell. No I am not alone, Rude's with me, we're going out to get his groceries in a minute. Yeah he was the one that helped me...We deserve a reward right? Like the evidence recovery mission against the Lou brothers set four weeks from now, sort of reward? ...aww, you said they were good before that means better than just satisfactory, I drew diagrams and everything...I am not whining. ...Okay...uh huh, okay...can I ask you one thing?...What will it take for me to get a place on the team...I know it's dangerous for me but that's what makes me perfect for the job...yeah I am going to the appointment tomorrow, most the bandages are coming off, well the visible ones are, except on the wrists. .. Ya can easily get this sort of stuff yourself, you know all this...yes I know it, I don't need reminding, but the mission...yes...yes...maybe...yeah,yeah...It's a great opportunity to stretch the rookies, havin' them on street patrol and filing is just blunting them after you did all that ceremonial knife sharpening. Gotta stretch the wings sometime, right? ...huh? we don't? But...hmm that complicates stuff... well it's ya call boss...Alright I'll come see ya straight after the doc's finished with me...bye, bye, I will, byyyyye."

Reno shut the PHS tabbed it thoughtfully on his chin put it safely into the pocket of his pants. Having heard his name come up Rude was impatient to get more details so asked, "Who was that?"

"Tseng."

Rude paused before he pried further. He had not quite expected by the way the redhead spoke that it had been to their senior. Feeling confident he tried asking about it directly. "What kind of relationship do you have with him? You are very familiar."

"Find the answers yourself if you're so curious."

Rude smirked, not really surprised but there was a flash across Reno's features for a barely a second that warned off the rookie from getting involved. He took the hint, "I think that's a rock I'll leave for now."

"Wise answer." Reno clapped his hands in a businesslike manner as if he had something important to announce. "Right we have a mission."

"We do?" Shocked Rude sprung from his seat a little panicked by the suddenness of it.

"Yep, operation fill your fridge, grab ya coat and wallet and we'll be off. Oh and try and look civilian."

Again Rude paused, reeling from the feeling of being fooled and knowing Reno was certainly laughing at him, he did not think he'd be taken literally and the naivety of new recruits was a delicacy to taken when it presented itself. Rude tried to cover himself by picking at flaws in the small Turks demands, "You don't."

Reno Looked down at himself, evaluated his scruffy appearance and announced "Oh yeah. Can I borrow some of your clothes?"

He was about to say 'of course' but remembered he had no such possessions as civilian clothes, in the closest there was only the tuxedo he'd been allowed to keep as it was tailor to fit and that just would not do. "I don't have any civilian clothes, only a coat." He said apologetically.

"Can I have the jumper you had this morning."

Marvelling at the Turk's resourceful mind he warned, "Yes but it's still quite sweaty."

"Ewww." The kid looked revolted but Tseng had them both making puddles on the training floor mats that morning so he did not see how his sweaty clothes was anymore gross than the redhead's.

"You want it?"

Reno contemplated it for a moment then held out his arms like a small child saying, "Gimme."

Coats and jumpers donned they exited the apartment and headed for the stairs, Rude did not mind the extra exercise and it reduced the chance of them being overheard which was good for him as he still had questions.

"So who are the Lou brothers?" He asked after a couple of flights down.

"Oh a couple of Dons trying to set up in Juon." The kid informed him, voice less out of breath than Rude's but then he was practically jumping down from landing to landing while Rude was taking three steps at a time. It was dangerous but it stopped him falling behind too much. "Plenty of troops so plenty of customers there for them, but plenty of opportunity to access ShinRa equipment as well." They reached the bottom and a fire door led out to a short alley, well lit from the main street. Fresh, evening air felt cool and good against Rude's exposed skin but he was glad he was wearing the coat. He hoped Reno was okay with just the jumper over his shirt but if the elements bothered him the Turk did not show it. They went left and walked parallel to the tower, Rude trusted Reno to know where he was going. There was virtually no one else outside so Reno carried on talking, "Corneo's worried about rivalry and he's trying to push for action, ya know getting his boys to unearth some dirt and pass it along to us. Last week they found out something actually worthwhile but it was just a recorded conversation between one of the brothers and his men in a bar. All too implicit but interesting enough to start sniffing around."

The streets were hardly crowded this late in the day but enough people were around that Rude took extra care to keep his voice low and as close to the kid as possible, "And you want this mission?"

"It'll have to be a team effort but yeah." Reno replied bounding along and forcing Rude to practically chase him. It probably made it difficult for people catch what they were saying but it drew eyes in their direction. "They own large buildings in Juon and we'll have to search them all, it'll take a couple of days and it's a huge risk job because if we're spotted its shoot to kill and goodbye body. Company erases your records and the Don's gang get rid of the body. Still getting out of Midgar sounds good."

They were keeping to the main streets; full of shops and populated by amiable civilians who'd much rather mind their own business than ask about yours. The street lamps had yet to come on which Rude thought quite odd as the nights were approaching faster as winter neared but they were already over an hour behind schedule. There was still enough natural light, the empty plains made it easy for even pinpricks of sinking sunlight to reach the city and then the Mako reactors and light from the tower lit everything but the darkest alleys anyway. He had observed the patterns he'd become accustomed to during the academy years were gradually altering, even the trains seemed to have altered their timetable.

"But it's dangerous for you because you're injured still."

"It's dangerous for me because I look young and they may have a people trafficking business which is one of the things we're confirming. Tseng things if I get caught, I will be drugged, shipped off to another continent and never be heard from again." Reno corrected as he scanned the shop signs. Rude did the same, liking how some had gone to pains to keep a traditional village shop theme that was quite up market while others were very modern and metallic. It resulted in an interesting blend that did not quite work aesthetically for the eye.

"That's a valid concern." He said, casting a glance at some monster designs in a tattoo parlour window.

The redhead made a 'pfft' noise and responded flippantly, "It won't happen."

"You can't be so certain."

"Sure I can, I am Reno of the Turks." Reno whispered loudly, again drawing eyes but Rude's frantic assessment concluded they'd probably not heard exactly what Reno had said.

Relived he resumed his sceptical prodding, "...and?"

"And I beat you didn't I?"

"Barely."

"Well whatever," Nothing seemed to dampened the kids joy of being outside the tower, Rude could probably make a obnoxious comment about him being better off in bed and Reno would probably shrug it off. Rude had no such intention, he kept his mouth politely shut while the kid babbled on, "keep ya ears peeled baldie the team could be rookie dominated anyway so you might have a shot of making it."

"Getting out of the Tower would be nice." Rude conceded as they turned into an unadorned grocery, well it looked more like a stock room with the top boxes open but appearances weren't everything.

"That's the spirit." The redhead cheered and playfully punched him in the arm. Rude ignored the look the boy at the counter gave them, but he'd make sure to count his change before he left. "Now do you want Miso or Tempeh or Natto?"

"Tempeh."

"Yeah Natto stinks, but what's wrong with Miso?" Reno asked one arm already full of packets of tempeh and the other hand holding some cheap Miso. Rude took a basket and caught up with him, he did not care about the quantities dropping in to the basket, even on a rookies salary he'd definitely be able to afford it all.

"Nothing, get some of that too."

"You got it."

* * *

A/N: Lots happening this chapter hope you don't mind some OC activity. Please tell me what you think and whether you liked how this chapter worked.

Take care.


	16. The Ball gets Rolling

The ball gets rolling...

* * *

The air was thick with bloated flies feasting on corpses. Raine smacked a cloud away from her face and tried to ignore the rest landing and bumping against her so she could focus on making a connection. Behind her the sounds of tissue slipping and slapping; tendons stretching and snapping; bones braking and crunching, along with the growling and chewing, snarling and swallowing insistently interrupted her concentration. Too close for comfort a pair of local panther-like beasts gorged themselves on the dead natives she'd shot barely ten minutes ago. The Wutains side had a number of monstrous beasts to bolster their troops, put it was obvious few of the creatures had any true alliance. In the frenzy they'd been unintentionally released from their cages, adding to the havoc and slaughter, driving by instinct to lash out in the confusion. Now things had calmed down they were content, joining the insects to dine. Keeping an eye on them she thought of the flesh from both sides being mixed in their stomachs. It would give them strength against the oncoming harsh winter; it was the only good the fighting was doing, she thought bitterly.

Even if there was anything salvageable in the mess the guerrilla fighters caused before her unit got there she could not focus to rescue it. It was not so much the noise- listening was a good distraction to feeling of the dead watching her- but a nagging frustration that sapped at her will. Lately, wherever they went they ended up somewhere suffering in the wake of a battle. In their state it was morbidly viewed as good fortune. For the last month and a half they had been surviving by the beast's example, stealing from bodies and pillaging the wreckage, thankful they did not have to sink to cannibalism - animals often got caught in the cross fire too. The ambush that left them in this state and two down, had dimmed her pity for the people of this land, but it was creeping back like cold fingers crawling up towards her chest, making her weak. At least when she was angry she did not feel sick, she could not smell the rancid blood in the soil, did not see the people instead of the enemy, would not hear nor feel anything beyond what had to be done. Like a fuel she was using it up and did not want to know what she would be when the tank emptied. Already she was having thoughts of desertion and she hated herself for it.

Today was supposed to have been a rendezvous with a communications team to report back to HQ, stock up on supplies and rest. It had given her hope. She should have been wiser when they were still a couple of leagues from ShinRa controlled borders. She should have expected a little camp of technicians to not last in a zone so torn up already. Still she had hoped-liked she'd hoped so many times before- and it was not until they saw the thick black smoke cloud coming from the co-ordinates of the site did she face the cynical reality her superior and partner had voiced the moment he received the order for them to come here. They had received no orders since nor would they be getting any today, with most the signalling equipment thoroughly and purposely destroyed before they arrived. Everything, everyday made her want to burst into tears, but she was not allowed despite how much it added to the hurt holding them back.

Even with these unpleasant thoughts and tiredness from the hours of walking through the jungle she still spotted pieces from the debris that were reusable and though she did not like the idea of carrying more it was their obligation to make sure none of it got into Wutain possession. The native bombs were crude in comparison to their own so assessing the damage she concluded a spell caster must have been among those they shot before coming onto the site. The fires were not started by any normal means and the extent of damage was too great to be caused by normal fire or explosive force. For this reason Hatoro had Seungri checking all the bodies. There was only the three of them left and this was the first time since Karmen had been killed while scouting had Hatoro allowed them to spread so far apart. Seungri was much younger than them and she knew her partner would be looking out for him as she could handle herself. Through the guilt and fatigue the one thing that kept her going was an instinct not to let Hatoro down, his pride in her was all she lived for when she forced herself to keep going. However bad things got, it could not be worse than seeing him look disappointed or worried. It made her act strong and optimistic on the outside and in seeing her effort she knew Hatoro was keeping the strong mask over his inner self. They all needed that; they had to hide their fears from each other otherwise they would truly be in trouble. Sometimes she envied how sincere Seungri could be; he was not expected to be strong for them. But when she held him close on the nights he was too frightened to sleep and unbidden tears silently soaked into her dirty jacket she was grateful he was there to be emotional and human. (What had Veld been thinking to send a rookie out here? He was bright and above average no doubt but this mission was suited for veterans who had the mental resilience not to be as ruined afterwards- if they got out. Seungri would surely be dead had Hatoro not kept a close eye on him.)

She wondered if he had found anything, the kid had good sight- it had been part of his recommendation, although Bilal had commented all kids were attracted to shiny things and they had all laughed- but she heard only the panting of the full, now resting beasts and buzzing. There was no wind this evening and the sun was only just beginning to descend so the trees were still and the birds had yet to sing. Looking away from the ruins she'd been searching she spotted the top of Seungri's head bobbing behind what could have been a four wheel drive once. She guessed he was kicking something, it reminder her how kids in her home town would prod her grandmother's old wolf-dog with their toe to wake it up as a dare and it made her miss the rookies mischievous and childish character of three months ago. She wanted him to make it back home, take leave and see his family and his girlfriend (who worked on floor 21). Making her way over and picking up things as she went she started to get a strange sensation.

The temperature's were getting low this time of year so though some fires were still going making the wreckage site was general quite warm the prickling heat beginning just above her elbows and across her back that felt like it was getting closer was unnatural. That Seungri who must have by now searched the five men they'd taken down had not found anything yet must mean-

"Get down!"

Automatically she obeyed. She just glimpsed Hatoro throwing himself against Seungri and knocking them both over when an arc of blazing fire swept overheard with a thundering 'woosh' that hurt her unprotected . It blasted into into the trees at the opposite side of the clearing with a frightening crash. Rolling to her side to look behind her, everything was as high up as just above her elbows was burning and as she watched the trees fell. They shook the ground on impact and rolled down the slight incline leading to the clearing. Somehow the angle of the cut and domino like way they fell stopped them going far. Instead they piled up at a natural ditch and only the highest branches of the closest trees got as far as a meter from where she dropped down. When everything was still again, the dust settled and the alarmed birds quietened it looked like a giant beaver had suddenly taken resisdence. Whatever that spell had been it formed flames so condensed and fast they cut cleaner than diamond. As she had thought the spell caster was still out there.

"Raine! Raine? Are you alright?" Hearing Hatoro's concern instantly made her forget the ringing in her ears and the pounding of her heart.

"I am. How about you guys?" Her voice was stronger than she expected and for once she was not spitting mud out of her mouth. They were getting so much practise diving into the dirt; it was actually becoming a skill.

"Brilliant." To her surprise Hatoro was laughing, that time must have been too close if he was so relieved. Scary as that fact was the sound got her moving. Crawling on her belly she made her way over to the (now even more unrecognisable) vehicle, determined to catch a glimpse of his rare smiles least she die here.

* * *

xXx

* * *

It was now four weeks, three days (8 hours and 26 minutes –he did not go too far and remember the seconds) since Rude had last spoken to Reno. Why was he bothered by this? Why did he wake up every morning chiding himself for thinking (more hoping) maybe he'd get a surprise visitation from the exuberant red haired youth? Why had he been going to bed knowing he had done every task asked of him by the book and still felt dissatisfied when he closed his eyes?

Obviously it was because he enjoyed the interruption to routine, the shock of suddenly being confronted with a ball of energy that had mood swings faster than any woman he knew and the interesting events that tended to follow. He just wondered why he enjoyed it?  
What made being accosted by Reno better than spending time with the original misfit crew? Well he supposed Reno knew more about how things worked and rarely had a care in the world (or if he did he was very good at hiding it) which meant Rude did not find himself in a cyclic conversations of rumour mongered worries. That was nice. Also Reno could be quiet, and Rude did not have to worry about the reasons for him being quiet unlike the others who were usually stressing so much they would turn introvert. Not a kind observation of his friends but he had to be honest. They acted more like rookies than anyone else which was endearing but tiring. Anyway, he did not know why he missed someone he barely knew over the friends he'd also barely seen for approximately one week, five days, (10 hours and 4 minutes) excluding passing Tabby and Lyon in the corridors approximately 3 days (13 hours and 58 minutes) ago.  
To make life more challenging and to give his neurons a daily workout he got back into the habit of taking note of the _exact_ details of almost every aspect of his day. Memorising when the trash was collected for their building, the surrounding buildings and the tower... Honestly he had gone so far as to learn the public services routine for every district in Midgar one particularly thrilling sleepless night. He knew when the receptionist tried to be different by changing the type – but not the colour- of the flowers in the vase between the wall and a plaque informing residents owning vehicles to park them in the garage and not in front of the building. He was starting to recognise faces, not by name but knew which floor to expect to see them on or regular individuals on the streets. The list went on but did not get any more interesting. Not always fun but a lot better than having to pay attention to Marko whose presence simply grated on his nerves.

During work he threw himself into his job because it was the best part of his day. Only in hindsight, during times when Marko was out and he had the apartment to himself- like now- did he go over the day and see opportunities he over looked at the time. Being friendlier, speaking up, not fading into the back ground and allowing everyone else to decide how things should be done. He was as good as any of the other rookies but knew he was allowing himself to be just a lapdog, no better than a grunt. He started promising himself he would do better tomorrow but by the morning all his wanted was to get the paperwork, patrols and searches done to an impeccable standard so each evening he was still left with a sense of disappointment. He could not watch television, especially not the news now he knew it was spun lies and the way Reno had mocked him for watching it made him feel like a fool. Other than that the dramas were too fake. Small things, everyday things kept reminding him of the youth, he supposed that was part of the redhead's charm to leave a lasting impression and he was so hung up about it because he could not make the same impact on others. He wondered how someone so young could change the way the world spun simply by entering the room or how he fascinated those that quite liked him and how he infuriated those that did not. In comparison Rude felt like he had no real charm; he came and went like a ghost from room to room, he helped things go as they always did like clockwork and safely did not rub others up the wrong way or encourage any affection for his character either.

But he knew some people were special, often you found out later it was superficial and they were just human like everyone else - or less so. Rude had never been bothered by these kind of people before, until the academy he had been another grubby slum boy. In the academy he was just there, the silent stereotype. As a rookie he was the intimidating muscle man of the new batch, defined, categorised and regarded accordingly. His interesting quirks were that he always wore shades and a watch; he was bald and was well acquaintance with the least promising new Turks and sometimes Reno. The last fact garnered the most attention and even some warnings for him to back off, such as from Kyo and Trent but others had done the same even Turks he did not know. They spoke about Reno behind his back, mostly in a derogative way and Rude wondered if they did so about him too (if he was worth the attention). It made him want to know what they knew that he did not about the infamous kid in the Turk suit and why he did not see it.

Or maybe he did. There had been times when looking into Reno's eye it seemed something darker was lurking beneath, a killing aura and deadly professionalism. Is that what concerned everyone else, the other sides to that person? Did they think it made him untrustworthy? Rude supposed it would make you uncomfortable to have your life partly in the hands of someone you could not trust. You would not want to be partnered with them, then you may start thinking of good excuses to give the boss as to why you don't want to work together and start justifying it to your friends and it would spread and escalate like a disease which only a few were a immune. If that was the case Rude was immune, he knew without fully seeing that a darker nature was there but he knew he had one as well. Everyone did. His master did a good job repressing it during his most rebellious stages but Rude knew it was there to be called upon when his self control waned. That side made life exciting, it could make dull air feel charged like when a storm was coming, and it promised everything you signed on for as a Turk, the stealth, adrenaline, and intelligence. It was like being a cat hunting, sleek, deadly and full of purpose. He wanted to be that kind of hunter, the kind criminals' truly feared. After all their training he and the other rookies still had to prove themselves and pay their dues to earn the privilege of participating in influential missions and it was starting to feel a long way off. Around Reno he could imagine and even feel what it was like, the kid held nothing back when it was just the two of them in his office or in Rude's room – mainly because Rude was writing it down for the kid's report – and he had begun telling Rude of the most interesting or exciting missions he'd been on or had been conducted by the Turks. He was a good story teller even without the finer details he had a skill of not spilling to the rookie, they had been something to look forward to, and another reason to be so hung up on the redhead.

Round and around his thoughts swam until he finally decided to get up and make the last cup of coffee for the day. Only when he moved from his comfortable seat did he notice how cold the apartment had got. He checked the thermostat and confirmed it was just two degrees above freezing. Marko must have turned it down before he went out three hours ago. The prick was inconsiderate like that. Rude was discovering swearing in his head was a great release for his frustrations concerning his friend's brother. It seemed pointless to turn it up so he continued to the kitchen. The tiles were icy against his bare feet and he contemplated if the drink was worth it. He decided it was and got coffee filters from a top cupboard and the rich coffee beside it. If his roommate was going to try and freeze him to death he would just have to drink his expensive ground beans to keep warm. It tasted nutty and was not as strong as his own economy brand but was really good with that liquor Reno left on his last visit.

The fugitive manner which the redhead had hidden it in Rude's room over six weeks ago made the rookie wonder where he had stolen it from. He had forgotten about it until three nights ago when Marko demanded he turn his room upside down to find the memory piece of his phone that had went missing after he'd thrown the device at Rude for ignoring him. Rude shut the door just in time so most of the parts were scattered outside but his roommate had been adamant the thin metal sheet might have slid under the door. Rude found the bottle while checking under the bed. (As it turned out the missing piece was wedged upright against the wall outside his door but half buried in the carpet overlooked. Understandable Marko had failed to notice it and Rude had made no real effort to search anyway). Not his problem if the superstar wanted to throw a diva fit because he couldn't handle the repercussions of his decisions. Although Rude was fed up of the 'I am taking charge, I'm messing up but at least I stepped up to the challenge, unlike you, don't judge me you are a coward because you don't try and boss people around, you let everyone do the hard thinking for you etc.' attitude he was subjected to whenever anything went wrong. Of course such fits did not happen enough. Marko was learning from his mistakes and he was more obnoxious when he was right. Worse he was redeeming himself after the tournament, the other rookies were starting to look at him with a bit of respect and Rude hated to admit the jerk earned it. Maybe it was such feelings that made him fearless to open the possibly stolen bottle when Marko went out that night and mix it with his coffee so he could stay up and stare pointlessly at the street lights across the plate. If he took off his glasses and let his vision blur- it stung – but it was easier to imagine he was looking at stars in a far off galaxy below, - since they had no real stars here.

Together the liquids made a creamy and warm product with a strong, expresso aftertaste. He took a gulp as soon as it was made, savoured it for a second than danced on tiptoe into his room and straight into bed. His bedroom was smaller and much cosier than the lounge. It was still sparse and probably would remain so, had he a more possessive or sentimental nature a horde of knick knacks may have added more warmth but his quilts and duvet were doing a pretty good job along with his own body mass. Finishing his drink, he reached for his book 'Survivor' a fictional novel that caught his attention because it made him think of the Turks and Soldiers fighting in Wutai. He knew it was a hot but secretive topic among the veterans on this side of the continent, the rookies were excluded from these sorts of talks, they had no personal attachment to the fighters and it was probably deemed unprofessional to load them with concerns they did not need to deal with. Being Rude and gifted with the ability to become one with the background he had eavesdropped on enough conversations to know the situation was getting worse and new MIA's kept coming in. The writer was not writing about the war, the setting wasn't even in Wutai or a jungle but the wastelands. However from the first page he thought the feelings would be the same, suffering, isolated and lost in your mind as much as the wild. It gave him a sense of empathy for the strangers that were his seniors, people he felt he should respect but probably would never meet. The writer was excellent by Rude's standards and he was near half way through despite starting it the same night he opened the bottle, he did not know which he would finish first though. Just as he was getting immersed in the dry, windy plains a loud knock on the apartment door pulled him back out.

He waited, hoping maybe they would go away and if it was urgent then they would phone him but they persisted. Huffing he got up to check who it was, if it was Marko than Rude would leave him out there and would still sleep easy but something about the way the rapping was conducted suggested the hands doing it were smaller and possibly belonged to a woman. Cautiously he crept towards the door without turning on the light so the person on the other side would not see a shadow approaching. What was to stop the person on the other side pulling a gun and shooting him when they knew he was there? Well a bullet proof door admittedly but much of ShinRa technology was already considered outdated by one year because defence and weapon technicians seemed to be constantly trying to outwit each other.  
Barely breathing he peaked through the spy hole and was surprised to see Tabby's distorted face trying to look in. He almost laughed. Stepping back and undoing the locks and codes on the door, he opened it letting light from the corridor and Tabby's too pleased voice to flood in. "Oh you are in! I'm so relieved." She said before the she could see who she was talking to. She did not seem to mind he'd obviously been waiting for her to go away, she knew what he was like. "Is it just you Rude?" she asked once she was in, looking around the dark apartment for any other signs of life.

"Yeah."

She nodded and looked like she wanted to turn on a light. Rude did it for her and lead her to the sofa. "Is Marko out? When will he be back? I don't think he'd like to see me visiting you." She asked, surprisingly fine with his state of dress even though this was the first time she had seen him anything less than training gear. It was strange she was not chirpily pointing out the obvious like she usually did.

Puzzled by the last remark, but his glasses covered the emotion, he simply answered, "I don't know."

"Oh, I better be quick, did I get you out of bed?" She asked looking apologetic and sounding sweet. She was such a nice person and somehow still untouched by some of the sobering facts the other rookies were gradually learning. He imagined much of it was Lyon's doing but he also imagined the reason he had hardly talked to her and why she seemed uneasy was Lyon's doing as well. He must make her feel she needed permission to do anything, not by his own actions- although he was overprotective everyone had noticed that- but Tabby had a way of being extra obedient towards her seniors and probably had not checked it was okay for her to go visiting this late at night.

"I was not sleeping," he assured her but that did not stop her lower lip being bit in worry so he added, "Would you like anything to drink or eat?"

"No thank you," She answered politely then continued with a much brighter expression, "I actually have some news to tell you, about tomorrow."

He raised an eyebrow to show interest then strolled into the kitchen to make himself another coffee and liquor brew, with more liquor this time. He would make one for her as well because she would decline even if she really did fancy something so as not to be an inconvenience. She was awkward around him, it could be the setting since it was the first time she had come to see him in private ever or because they had not talked for a long time and their friendship was built on a relatively short acquaintance -whatever the reason she needed a little help loosening up. Speaking from the kitchen, which had an open window into the lounge area so communication could be conducted between the rooms, he responded, "What news?"

"You've been picked to go on a special mission in Juon." She smiled like it was good news but her slumped body language and the way she seemed so tiny in their spacious lounge gave Rude the impression it troubled her, "Isn't that great? Only two other rookie units have been picked, Lyon said if the mission is successful you'll be distinguished amongst your peers, I mean us. You're really lucky to get this opportunity, you could move up really fast." But it would be dangerous because it would be such an important mission, and they've probably run out of more experienced people to do it.

What she left unsaid he could almost feel, she was good at that and he felt illogical guilt- it was not his fault- and could not honestly be pleased about the job. Maybe when she left and it had sunk in he'd appreciate it. While Marko's expensive coffee brewed he put a bit more liquor into her cup so it was almost the same level as his. "Are you and Lyon one of the other units?"

"Oh...no," she replied, sounding like she was just about to doze off on their couch for a second, "Jordo and Doug where picked and Hana and Maya too. I think Lyon said their skills would be the most useful and then you guys were simply the most promising and deserved the opportunity."

"Really," He muttered to himself, not liking the sound of being stuck with Marko _and_ his posse on an extended trip. If he recalled correctly this could be the same venture Reno had informed him of. Too late for guess work he chose to find out, "Is it to do with the Lau brothers? Was Lyon on that case and did you come this late because you have useful information I should know?" Already it felt like he was speaking too much, his throat was going dry and he fancied a glass of water as much as his coffee but he would wait for the coffee since it was almost done. Tabby looked like she needed a pick up even when surprised.

"How do you know it's about the Lau siblings?" She sounded so shocked and confused yet Rude wondered why she even knew about it and if she was going to be connected in anyway.

"Reno mentioned it to me."

"Reno?" The increasing confusion on her face alerted Rude he had spoken without thinking, "You've met him? Oh wow, what is he like? Is he really intelligent and charismatic?" She asked with the more familiar interest and excitement he was used to. _Charismatic? _Where did she come up with that? From her ideal image she's created for him? If Idols had existed she would be the sort to become a groupie which begged the question why she was not a fan of the celebrity Soldiers Rude wondered off topic. Then again she was more of the kind to feel safer loving dreams than face the often disappointing reality.

"Yes actually," He sounded teasing and involuntarily a subtle smile crept onto his lips as soon as he matched the descriptions to the kid. Yes the youth fit those words in his own way, or at least to Rude he did.

"Ah he must be wonderful," She squealed bouncing in her seat just as the coffee was ready to be poured. "It's so rare you wear that kind of expression, like when you are with Red."

Walking into the lounge he paused briefly when she said that but immediately carried on and hoped she was so giddy to notice his reaction. Unfortunately she did. "What was that just now? Is something up between you two? He hasn't been around lately. Why did you stop when I mentioned his name?" He tried to ignore the reams of questions as he set the coffee on the table. She took hers without question, to intrigued to remember she had not asked for it.

"It's nothing like that," He said, smirking into his cup as he sat down. He almost burnt himself.

"Then what? Please tell me" she paused examining him and he could see her going over their small conversation to work out the answer herself. It did not take her long, "Are Reno and Red connected? Is that that why you've met Reno, is he Red's partner?"

"Reno doesn't have a partner," He answered automatically and before she could ask any more he clarified, "Reno is Red or Red is Reno."

It took a while for that fact to sink in. He observed her blinking three times then her plain eyes bugged, "..._No way_."

"Disappointed?" He could not keep the chuckle from coming out with his question since her face was still frozen in a priceless fashion.

She shook her head, "No just... I wouldn't have...it's not how I imagined."

"Obviously."

"Oh you," She grinned and playfully beat at him with a pillow, missing by miles, "you sound just like John."

"You must garner those kind of responses then." Again his remark was greeted by a failed attack by a comforter. Maybe he should not speak since it made people he liked hit him.

"Still," She sighed looking at the ceiling and letting her weapon dangle, "he does suit Reno doesn't he?"

"Who does?"

"Red, Reno suits him better as a name." She clarified, frowning either slightly annoyed by his slowness or because it sounded as if he was getting at her ability to express herself clearly. Rude smiled, again it was barely visible but it was enough for her to see and the frown disappeared.

"Red would be a lame name."

"Yeah it would," she giggled. "But Reno is still unusual."

"Yes he is." His tone was abnormally cheeky.

"_For a name_! When did you become such a tease? I haven't seen this side of you!" Tabby sounded exasperated with him but her mood had relaxed greatly compared to when she came in it did make Rude wonder, had he put too much in her drink?

"I guess he rubs off."

"I like it." She gave him a big childish grin that transformed her plain looks into something one could only be described as adorable; she did not have the look of a killer. Blowing on her coffee she said, "I hope he comes by again if you haven't fallen out."

Rude shrugged as he watched her sip the hot beverage still a little concerned about its alcohol content, "Not to my knowledge."

"Good, You obviously think well of him and he balances you out nicely. I know John, Jim and I haven't been able to do much for you and we all know about Youji," She paused suddenly guilty. "Sorry." She added quietly.

Shifting in his seat it took him a moment to realise why she'd reacted as such, then he felt bad for forgetting but he had promised to close that chapter of his life. It proved he was doing well, those aspects of his past were not burdening his thoughts liked they used to although it was unsettling to have them brought up. He forced his small smile to stay in place and become reassuring; even if it was not a look he knew how to express easily. Tabby meant well, she always did and that was what mattered he did not want her to feel bad for trying to be a caring friend. "That is alright, Youji was more like a brother I guess," Rude told her truthfully thinking for only a second of the young exuberant man who had guided him onto this destiny and whom he had felt admiration and responsibility over, "but not one I could really relate to."

Thinking about what he said she replied perceptively, "You can relate to Reno?"

Nodding he continued knowing it was the first time he had been so open to her and that it would mean a lot, "On some levels I can relate to him on things I never thought I would think about."

"He's opening you up." She guessed, demeanour easing once more.

"Worrying." He replied jokingly. He had not considered his small but significant acquaintance in the redheaded Turk being something of discussion but it felt safe sharing it with Tabby, she seemed to have a second sense for sensitivity so knew what to let slip to others and what to keep to herself unlike Jim. Plus she seemed as interested in the redhead so he was a common interest that was quickly making up for the long time of not seeing each other.

"No, no it isn't. Rude everyone needs a friend and out of the four of us you are the most distant. I am happy you have someone that one day may turn out to be your best friend." She said sagely and he could imagine her mother or grandmother handing similar advice down to her when she was still a little girl running around in dresses with pigtails. Well in the tone at least.

"Aren't you being a bit premature with this." He chuckled deeply, his baritone loudly filling the otherwise quiet room, at the thought of him and Reno being best friends. Having not seen the kid in so long and with the possibility of not seeing him again, the idea felt farfetched. Seriously best friends and Turks were not words that shared sentence space often. Partners and comrades were as far as it went professionally and the seniors although friendly with each other, very close attachments were probably frowned upon so it would be easier to move on if something unfortunate happened. Logic was one requirement in their department, excessive emotions lead to illogical motives which could put you and others in jeopardy. To call someone your best friend it meant a lot or at least to him -maybe he thought too deeply into things, - but it was not a frivolous title. You would not leave your best friend to die or sacrifice themselves for the good of the mission and you would never fully move on if they did. A best friend was an irreplaceable soul mate that you were lucky to even meet, possibly rarer than true love. Perhaps he was being ideal but the point was what she said now sounded ridiculous.

"Maybe, but I get the feeling you would forgive him no matter how he turns out. You are what my mum would say 'attached'." She carried on unaware of his mental monologue and happily drank more of her coffee now it was much cooler and not giving as much heat to her hands that were hugging it for warmth.

"Attached?" He asked as if he did not understand what she meant but privately he acknowledged the feeling. It was what made him keep a look out for the kid where ever he went, or find excuses to do filing in case he was in his 'office' and what made him worry for the younger's safety although he must have been doing just fine before they crossed paths. Well actually not just fine, you don't end up looking like prematurely wrapped mummy when you're getting along just fine.

Even with the shades on he could not hide the far away expression from Tabby this time and she let him think a good while over the simple but profound word, letting in dangle in the air so to speak, before carrying on, "You have a sentimental feeling towards him already I can tell."

"You make me sound like I am in love." He said as a blush heated his cheeks, luckily it was unnoticeable- he did not like to be caught spacing out. He took a huge gulp of his coffee to act nonchalant.

"Friendship is a form of love." Tabby said warmly, putting her empty mug down and rubbing her hands together. "It is part of true romance...Yeah, it's quite similar to true love... I think you too could be honest and pure with each other." She said the last part more to herself and Rude definitely thought she was getting carried away or she was tipsy.

"Pure? Where do you get this from?"

"My lady newspapers."He was going to go with the tipsy but she sounded more sober as she went on, "I am not talking romantically I just mean he could be someone you don't feel like keeping secrets from and feel comfortable around."

Taking a moment to evaluate her eyes he concluded the alcohol content was still below her threshold so she was in fact taking this too far with the sentimental, mushy stuff but the last bit he could understand although not apply it to the kid and voiced as much, "I have a feeling if we ever became close he would keep secrets and not let me keep mine. He is that sort of person."

"Really?" She sounded surprised.

"Yes, very nosy." He confirmed.

She laughed, "We have something in common then."

"Yes you do."

* * *

xXx

* * *

"Oi get up!" Marko screamed at his door, "We have to be in Tseng's office in an hour for a mission brief."

Rude, who was crouching in the kitchen looking in a cupboard contemplating the best way to start the day just rolled his eyes and popped up. "Then you better get some trousers on," he indicated with his spoon at his partners half dressed state, while he was fully clothed and immaculate. Marko glared at him, the man hated anyone seeing him look less than perfect, hence time only made him loathe Rude more.

Once sufficient glaring had been achieved he stomped back into his room. Amused Rude kindly made Marko some toast and tea ready to go since the man would use all the spare time priming himself. Marko drank tea in the morning and Rude only found out why when his partner had coffee for a change then had to go to bathroom an hour later. Some drinks just go right through people. Leisurely he prepared himself a more wholesome breakfast, consisting of what Jim would describe as Chocobo fed - That's not what it said on the box but eating it Rude was inclined to agree. He did not care, it stopped his stomach demanding food for hours better than ration packs they'd been introduced to in the academy and did not weigh him down like porridge.

When Marko made his dramatic re-emergence, walking as if the world depended on him that very second, Rude had already been waiting halfway out the door. Swiping the toast and plastic cup from the side as he swiftly put on his shoes he gave his partner the first signs of gratitude ever. Rude nodded and went on ahead not looking back to see Marko grimace after chugging the lukewarm tea. Via the now very familiar tunnel system they were back in the main building within fifteen minutes and outside the second-in-commands door in ten. All their mission briefs thus far had been given to them by Tseng usually from their PHS; Veld had more important matters on his hands. Entering his office though had actually become rare, especially this early. Marko looked at Rude to share a comrade look of apprehension before going in but Rude spared no time for that, knocking and entering in almost the same motion.

"Finally," Silky amusement with an aftertaste of annoyance greeted them as they walked in. Everyone in the room flinched on their behalf. Checking the clock, on the desk's shiny wooden surface informed Rude they made it exactly on time, on the dot in fact. That was not acceptable. Then he looked the Wutai man in the eye, or his shades did. It was still quite dark in the room- Tseng did not turn on the lights, perhaps preferring the light from the Reactor -but he saw the purposely aimed lightening flash of irritation in those eyes so dark they were orbs of black ringed thinly with white, like a sharks. The irritation appeared to be directed at Marko, as if their second-in-command knew he was the reason for their lateness but he was smart enough not to put a subordinate publicly on the spot, not before a mission that could hinge on their respect for each other's abilities.

Thankfully after glancing at the others present that probably was not going to be a big issue. Hana and Maya sat in the only two chairs in front of Tseng's green lit desk while Jordo and Doug stood behind them like bodyguards. The ladies smiled at him and the men acknowledged Marko, things were already dividing nicely. Their superior observed this silently, making sure Rude in particular knew nothing slipped his notice by giving the rookie another pointed look. Rude did not feel comfortable being singled out.

Then Tseng cleared his throat, "Now that you are all present I will go over the details. Your mission is in Junon," A stir went through the rookies to whom this was news, and Rude felt Tseng assessing his unmoved continence, "We have reason to suspect these men," He slid a pair of A5 photographs of two rough looking men across the table. Hana and Jordo took one each, their partners leaning over to see while Marko and Rude had to peek over their shoulders, or in Rude's case loom over Jordo to see the picture obviously taken by a spy at a considerable distance. The men must not have any previous criminal records, probably good business men who got greedy and made a number of sly corrupt turns, using money to evade the regular police. "Brothers, last name Lou," Tseng continued, " are believed to be smuggling stolen ShinRa equipment to Wutai troops and human trafficking." Maya let out a shocked gasp while Hana's usually still expression shimmered with contained disgust and anger. "How events plan out will decide how their fates will be dealt with. The President has made it clear he would prefer a legal outcome, in which case your priority will be to gather solid evidence. How would you go about doing this?"

The rookies were silent, taken aback by the unexpected question. Doug looked desperately at Marko, leading the others to do the same. After an expectant pause Marko suggested, "Footage of crates of weapons or people on their ships and a red handed arrest."

"That should be sufficient." Tseng bowed his head and Marko grinned cockily. "However after discussing with your senior who will be supporting you on this mission, were it that easy they would have been caught long ago. These brothers employ more than just thug bodyguards. People much like you, people with knowledge of weapons, technology and espionage are working for them. Their building and ships are highly guarded with man power and up to date security and traps. From what we know it is likely they are employing people to dismantle our equipment, remove the tracers and registrations and recycle the components into their own equivalent designs. Conducting their arrest legally could give us access to all their personnel and possibly add their skills to our company. Naturally you should expect they may have anti-ShinRa motivation, however considering the reputation of Mr and Mr Lou there is also the chance they are unwilling participants. That is just something for you to consider. These men are devious, hence their success in carrying out such large scale piracy right under our noses. Hopefully time has made them careless. To complete this successfully you should 'aim no shallower than the heart' as _he_ put it. Get in close, penetrate their records, find where these technicians and scientist are working and how they are stealing and trafficking our equipment and people without being noticed until after the fact. Send everything you get back, when you have complied enough the president will send in troops to storm the properties – hence it is important you find all of their bases and employees identities for comprehensive arrests." He paused to assess their staring faces, maybe he did not like what he saw for his expression remained hard, "The finer details will be decided by your senior, in order for this to be successful you will have to be malleable and expect to change plans in an instant. If he gives you orders I would advise you follow them without question. Now if you are ready, everything has been prepared and the helicopter is waiting."

"Yes sir."

As they went to file out Hana hesitated.

"Yes?" the second –in-command asked.

"Sir," She began her voice icy and soft that it gave everyone except Tseng chills, "Why have these men been impenetrable so far, if you have enough evidence to believe they are behind stolen ShinRa supplies and people why is that not enough to make arrests already?"

The rookies collected by the door eagerly waited for the response their superior was mulling over as he gazed at her unblinking. When she broke eye contact he chose that moment to speak, "Mainly, our attention has for a long time been diverted and less of our time spent on this case. Now it is a sufficient issue it has become a priority. Otherwise, it is the need to acquire all the information that has been a setback. Before you, two separate parties isolated the Lou siblings as a source of disappearing equipment and human trafficking, but without a hundred percent reliable sources there was little we could do that did not clash with the presidents wishes. When they attempted to push further there were causalities. Unfortunately considering our stance in this they were within their right to deal with intruders. Until the troops are called your work will be secretive and mistakes may forfeit your life without consequence except setting us back further. Ideally more would be spent on this but little can be spared, that is why it is important you listen to your instructions carefully and nothing less than your best will be expected of you."

Hana nodded, "Of course, sir. I just wanted to have a better idea of what to expect."

"Perfectly reasonable. Now go before your tardiness upsets him."

Like frightened mice his cool words had them scurrying for the elevators. Once packed in, there was still a reasonable amount of space for all even if Doug's muscular. overbearing frame seemed to take up enough space for another person. Rude pressed himself against the glass side and looked out to the red clouded sky and dull wastelands, made grander by the pattern of exaggerated shadows of any lump or crack in the ground. For the first time since going to Costa del Sol he would be leaving Midgar, although it had only been months it seemed like years. Drawing his view to the immediate city, watching the buildings and few people up this early fall further and further away, he felt heaviness in his chest. As time had worn on he knew his perspective was becoming more 'us' and 'them' than before. As a trainee they could turn back, now after their rather long transition they were committed. That commitment brought privileges and those privileges were gradually making the divide wider and wider. On this side of the glass he was getting a better idea of why Turks were viewed as more detached from citizens than the military operatives, as a trainee he had sort of believed he could maintain that connection but it seemed to already have slipped away without him noticing. But loosing it did not necessarily mean he would not protect the people of Midgar, or that his aims or actions would be at their expense. At least he could still believe in that.

Actually there was 'them, 'us' and 'them' because similar divides separated juniors and seniors in the department. It was all about how much you knew or how much you were allowed to know. Where it not for his distraction of trying to keep his mind off thinking about Reno he may have become oppressed by the invisible layers building up. The atmosphere of the tower, the politics they understood and the relationship of the people already pressed down on the rookies who were just getting used to life on this side of the line. Looking back at the sky and knowing by sunset they'd be in Junon, a different place and different faces, different 'them' he felt excited but it did not dislodge the peculiar weight.

However harbouring melancholy or at least cynically tinged thoughts was a poor precedent to a mission so he reviewed the details so far in his head. He had been told nothing new so he still did not know where in Juon there were to be placed, what time frame they were probably aiming for and exactly what would be required of them to obtain the files and other evidence. Having Hana and Maya on the team strongly suggested work at a distance, with lots of stack outs and spying. Rude wondered if Tseng's mission briefs would be less vague or if they'd just learn to know how to fill in the gaps. Their senior had been oddly vague on who would be guiding them, only giving up their gender. From that he surmised it was not Arisa, Trent, Kyo or Lyon all of whom had been the Turks who were still assigned to the rookies when needed. He had heard of instances of other seniors being involved with them but that was specifically if the rookies work had anything to do with theirs which was rare. From the tone by which Tseng spoke of them and the order to not question him, their second-in-command trusted they knew what they were doing and that was enough for Rude.

He held back the urge to take a deep breath – it would not be wise in the confined space- instead he placed both hands behind his back and squeezed his wrist. Nobody noticed, Hana and Maya were whispering softly to each other on his right, on his left Jordo seemed uncomfortable and maybe a bit twitchy for his handgun. He could not see Marko with Doug standing directly between them but he could smell the blonde's sweat making him regret pulling out of his thoughts. However the elevator came to a halt and he was spared the odour as Doug quickly dogged Marko's footsteps just like he tended to do in the academy. Jordo waved the girls out in front of him and walked along side Rude at the rear. As they ascended the stairs towards the launch pad roof the bald rookie subtly glanced at the average built man, reviewing his loose way of walking almost casually slinging along, keeping his arms relaxed but still controlled and his eye movements minimal but certainly taking in more information than the typical observer. These were highly toned down mannerisms you learnt to expect in a typical thief on the streets, good at grazing market stalls and swiftly swapping drugs and money without the obvious bump and pausing and most vitally always ready to lash out with fist or gun if things got that far. Unlike Doug, Jordo's relationship with Marko or at least why the guy stuck with the teacher's pet was simple survival behaviour. Associating with Marko levelled out the disadvantage of having an extensive criminal record and the difficulty of learning professional etiquette. Hanging around Marko would be like a fast track ticket to becoming a Turk especially when your back ground was as shady as Rude believed Jordo's had to be. He did not think Jordo had ever been a leader of a gang, his ability to suck up to Marko ruled that out but for a sly second-hand-man who figured out early on when the game was up and took off for a better deal was more like it. Jordo was a man for himself, so Rude was wary about what he was after whenever his behaviour fluctuated from normal.

Perhaps he was not as subtle as he thought for as soon as Hana and Maya were far enough up the stairs Jordo whispered, "Che, don't fret it's just two by two formation."

The comment ruffled Rude's metaphorical feathers and to save face he responded. "Who's fretting?"

The other smirked and walked a step ahead so Rude brought up the rear by himself. At the top Doug open the door a blast of air shoot right down and howled horribly in their ears. Maya stumbled from the unexpected force but Hana prevented her from falling and Jordo hit Rude's chest, all four of them glared at the top duo for not giving them warning. It was in vain for Marko was already gone and Doug was quite oblivious. Gripping the cold handle rail they progressed up the stairs, Hana muttering dark nonsense and Jordo definitely swearing their way up. Maya fell back to take Rude's support and in the end it was more like him herding them to the exit. The air current was so strong it had to be being pushed by a chopper's blades. Just when they were near the top and the large black craft was in view the heavy door suddenly swung far enough to slam shut. Immediately the women fell forward and Jordo tottered but they all caught themselves and unhindered rushed as one to the door, but it was Rude who contributed to re-opening the door. As Maya slipped out the gap, someone outside took the other side letting them all out with no further fuss. Once on the roof Rude saw their helper was a masked technician, large bodied and hugging a clipboard to his chest. The stranger gave them a cheery thumbs up, pointed to where Marko and Doug were next to the nearest Helicopter with another technician trying to open the side of the hull, then carried on his way.

Feeling the others group around him he forced his way forward, as he got closer the blades rotation slowed and everything became much easier. The technician even got the door open and to their surprised dived in before them, wiping off his mask and stomping towards the cock pit. After a look round Marko shrugged and jumped in, the rest followed his example. The first thing they heard was the technician's broad accent thundering around the metal and they all stood stupefied to listen.

"...in t' name o' Chaos we'ye tryin' ta blow us off ta roof ya mad rat! E'bye if ya was'n chained dun ya woulda be'eh in _space_!" As the man paused for breath a rather familiar voice replied far too cheerfully.

"Aww, Raffy ya scared me man. Burstin' in and shoutin' like that I thought you were goin' ta murder me."

The technician's arm reached out and hit something hard, producing a pained yelp, "On't no why aye ain't, puttin' her up so sudden like that. If ye weren't ye I'd be stringin' ya scrawny arse offer de side righ' nu. Where ye offa too wid de newuns?" The offending limb now wrapped around the unseen individual in the pilot seat in a more kindly fashion. The rookies relaxed; no longer worried their mission was starting with a brawl on the roof.

"Junon, to be honest they took so long I thought I was going solo, kind of forgot about the locks ya know."

"Well Dunt, ya rip her in two an' ye be sorry."

"Yeah, yeah you'll be first in the lynch mop."

"Aye, but ye be more worried who come afterta me, " the Technician laughed and with a more friendly cuff stood straight and lumbered out, barely acknowledging them as he passed and slammed the door behind them. As soon as the man was no longer blocking Rude's view he tried to get a look at the Senior leading them already suspicious of who they were. He did not have to try particularly hard; the Turk was leaning on the armrest and looking back into the hull with a sunny smile on his face. The bright light coming in made it difficult to look directly but there was no mistaking that mess of red hair. Beside him Marko was making fish faces and Jordo looked equally displeased while Hana and Maya could not have looked happier.

"Well, well, well," Reno hummed from his seat, "Ya finally decided to show up."

"We came straight from Tseng's office," Marko barked indignantly.

"Admiring the scenery along the way or something. I got a call like fifteen minutes ago."

"Not our fault if the elevator has only one speed," it was Jordo who sniped this time while Doug was glowering appropriately.

"Yeah, but ya coulda run, ya know, show some enthusiasm. Jeez." He turned from the trio of unpleasant faces and spoke to the ladies, "Not that I blame you Hama I know you ladies would have teleported to my side." Maya erupted in snorts of giggles and even Hana cracked something that had to be a grin making Rude immediately curious of the history behind this familiarity and probable inside joke. "How ya been girls?"

"Bored," Hana, being the only one fit to answer replied.

"Oh well, we'll soon fix that," chirped Reno, turning back and started flipping switches. The motor picked up speed and the Turk shouted over the increasing noise, "Destination danger and a return ticket is up to you. Yo bauldie boy get up front and the rest of ya buckle up."

"What about the rest of the briefing," Marko yelled as he hurriedly seated and strapped himself in with the others.

"What?"

Further communication was halted by the helicopter taking off, Rude just managed to grab hold of the co-pilot seat in an almost dignified manner as the floor tipped smoothly 45 degrees of more. Part of his mind that was not concentrating on gripping his seat for dear life was impressed the Turk would manoeuvre so soon when the large craft was barely air born. As soon as the floor levelled and they were ascending the sky normally he collapsed in his seat and immediately snatched the seat belt and slammed the lock in before he let out the breath he'd been holding very, very slowly.

"Ya okay?"

"Fine."

"Ya sure, ya lookin a bit green."

"And whose fault is that?"

Reno just snickered to himself and Rude finally turned to look at the young man properly. Even though they had been following the sun they'd already beat it through the cloud cover but he could see the first hint of its golden touch spread over the fluffy grey horizon. Sight no longer hindered he noticed a distinct lack of cloth encasing the redhead; instead the pale skin shone ghostly white in the pre morning glow, unexpectedly smooth. He glanced down to the exposed neck and chest and found all skin in the same condition. Was ShinRa medicine that good? Or what had all those bandages really been for?

The only markings were what appeared to be thin red strokes framing his eyes. The tip starting parallel a couple of centimetres out to the outer corner of each eyebrow and slightly curved at the bottom to follow the line of his cheekbones to stop almost to the align with the centre of each eye but again a couple of centimetres down. They were perfectly symmetrical and looked like the sort of impressions one got from wearing too tight lab goggles for too long, but these marks were definitely permanently inked. His quiet evaluations drew the younger's inquiring turquoise eyed gaze and Rude immediately threw out a question to avoid the other catching on he'd been examining him, "So where have you been?"

"Eh? Sleepin." The Turk sounded sheepish but giving Rude a side long glance he laughed to himself finding the rookies apparently stunned reaction hilarious.

"It's been almost two months."

Reno bobbed his head still smirking away, "yeah, yeah. But as you can see," He gestured up and down his body, "All good now."

"All good?"

"Uh-Huh."

Rude waited for more but nothing came so he looked back through the windscreen as more of the sun rose into view, lightening the dark sky to yellow, pink, orange, violet and finally a icy azure. "I'll take your word for it."

Reno did not respond, like Rude he settled for a moment or two admiring the view and lazily holding the stick, clearly not one to be too vigilant at the commands when it wasn't necessary. Meanwhile the rookie took his eyes from the glass and set about recalling what all the helicopter controls meant. To his dismay this design was far beyond the level they'd been taught to use in the academy. The dash board was fitted extra mini screens along with the familiar radars. One was very similar to their PHS with a small keyboard beneath it and extra monitoring screens were present, lighted dials spinning gently, dots flashing now and then or wave lines gentle and rhythmic. He forced himself to look at the fields of switches and dials, picking out ones he knew and wondering what the new ones were supposed to do.

"Congratulations by the way." Reno suddenly said, easily snatching Rude's attention from the daunting circuitry.

"For what?"

"Making the team." He said, as if Rude should know.

Odd, up until now most Turks got to pick which rookies they wanted on their teams for their own reasons as soon as he knew it was Reno in the cockpit he immediately assumed that was why he had been chosen. "You did not get to choose?"

The Turk shook his head while looking at some switches above his head then decided to jump up and flick a few. "Nope, but I knew Hama would be coming and that dark haired guy." The sound of small currents of air streaming through filters and powered by little fans accompanied a pleasant rise in temperature, making Rude notice his own digits had been gradually freezing. Someone shouted thanks sarcastically from the back.

"Who is Hama?"

"Hana and Maya obviously."

"Oh obviously." It was rather but Rude preferred to confirm it but something about the nickname made him irritated.

"Yeah, had a couple of missions with them before I was put to sleep and they're practically joined at the hip so seemed pointless saying both their names all the time, get it?" The redhead said giving him a another cheeky smile

"Yeah, how many missions?"

"Two, three I think. Just stack out and a sniping stuff."

"Sniping?"

"Hear about that lead investor in some chemical company growing in Kalm?"

"You?" Rude could not keep the shock from coming out with his words.

"Us. Stopped all plans with a single bullet." The Turk said eyes looking Rude up and down curiously, making him uncomfortable and wishing he controlled his tone better. Reno sighed and looked at the radar, "Listened to locals the morning after most were relieved that sort of stuff was not spreading in their town, so not a totally bad deed."

"Murder?" Again, the word just shot out of his mouth, it seemed his distaste for such immoral acts was preventing his better judgement, or maybe it was the fact he felt he could question it because he was talking to Reno.

"Mission orders."

Rude couldn't think of a response to that except to nod but his discomfort with the reminder that sometimes their jobs required them to essentially perform criminal acts was evident. Thankfully Reno did not stare at him like Rude noticed other Turks do when those type of realities were brought up, probably evaluating who had the stomach to actually do them. By some divine mercy neither he nor Marko had been put to such tasks, he supposed his skills in fist fighting and technology made him more suitable for escort and deciphering field work and Sword skills were more for aiding capture or termination of very problematic monsters.

Suddenly Reno leaned over and hit his arm, "Oi mind taking control while I go back and give the brief." Again Rude failed to reply but conveyed enough panic the Turk got the message. "Okay," He laughed. Relaxing back into his seat he jabbed a button and adjusted the mic on his headphone set, "Alright people I am gonna give ya the brief now so ya better shut up and pay attention cause I am only gonna do it once."

His voice echoed back from the hull where it must be projected through speakers, he paused until all shushes died down and continued as blasé as ever, "'Kay so we're going to land in Junon, we got a HQ set up that we're basically gonna use it till this is over. It's essentially a small room with a couple a bunks in it and a table, nothing fancy but that's military for ya. Hopefully it'll inspire you to do everything right first time so we an' pull this up early and get back sooner. Tseng would like us to finish up in a week maybe over; I say we could do it in three provided you kids are on the ball and I've read ya reports so no excuses.

"Lucky for us what we'll need is already over there, I want to get started tonight and that will be breaking into their head office, downloading everything, going through their paperwork- that'll be legit stuff but if we find forgeries it'll point us where they are covering up, and that's what we really want to know. Hama I want to be in charge of watching our backs the whole time, you'll be in charge of radios and the IR scanners cause the place will be crawling. Pick pocket and Baldie you're going to cancel their security, get past the cyber defences and get the data- as much as you can. Brainless and Mr Model you two watch their backs on the ground. That's the jist. It's a big building so first task is checking out the building, they keep tightening things up so weaknesses are going to be difficult spot. I'm sure Tseng drilled this in ya but I'm gonna say it again, Do. Not. Get. Caught. Cause if you set anything off all of us are screwed and if you make it out I will kill you. Can't say much now, we are working this on the fly. My word is as holy as...well Holy now so yeah so don't argue with me unless you know something that I don't. Oh on the mission keep talking, report everything and anything, and Hama you get it on record. I know their cameras did not pick up sound on our last check up and hopefully if Pocket picker does his job right it won't matter but if a camera starts following you get out of there or destroy the thing, ideally in a way that is subtle - actually to be honest by that time the alarms will be going off...Oh while you are settling I am going to set up knock out gas in all their surveillance rooms, that will take a lot of time but if we don't we might as well not bother. Physically getting past their alarms isn't a problem for me so I will do that solo. If I can do that that'll give us three maybe four hours tops which is plenty of time. But we only have one shot at this, if ya mess up I am not taking you back to Midgar, actually if ya mess up you and probably someone else will be going straight to the life stream. Hope ya appreciating what I'm sayin' here. This ain't no training mission and half baked won't cut it either. If it comes sunset and ya got any doubt ya stayin on base cause I ain't having ya risk anyone else's life, any problems?" Reno finished and listened but aside from some mutterings nothing was called out. He shrugged and turned the speakers off.

Meanwhile Rude was amazed; the speech was by no means eloquent and a bit here and there but when he wanted to the young redhead possessed a lot of authority. He knew there were some details he would prefer to be expanded on but Reno essentially told them they had to work off what they were going to find out this afternoon and build a plan just before the actual job. An extremely messy arrangement than what they were used to but again the Turks tone covered a '_What can you do?_' attitude that stopped anyone bringing those sorts of complains forward. Strangely Rude did not mind this.

"Ya okay with that?" Reno asked him, again leaning over, Rude liked the way he looked interested in his opinion.

He nodded, "All except the nickname." A bright, toothy grin cracked across Reno's face and he nodded, clearly he was going to use that more from now on.

"Cool. I know you can handle it," The Turk said and Rude swelled with pride, "but it's going to be a long night. If you can, rest up while I set up the distractions."

"I could go with you." He offered.

Reno shook his head, the smile already gone and instead he looked serious, "No, I need you fresh and alert."

"What about you?"

"I can handle myself."

"You don't have to." Rude said carefully, wary of coming across as if he thought the redhead was weak since he knew how sensitive it made the younger man.

"True but I am keeping the risks to you as low as possible." Reno nodded, and the rookie was relieved he was taking it the right way and quite touched by the younger man's mature tone, "I am in charge of ya- unfortunately- and my top priority is making sure all six of ya get back in as big a piece as ya are now. No assurances, if you're stupid and get killed I am not going to be able to help that."

"Understood. We can handle ourselves."

"Supposedly," The Turk said eyeing him up and down as a bit of mischief crept back into the glint in his eyes. "But ta me ya still babies and...I'm worried." Reno finished softly, the mischief gone as soon as it appeared. Again Rude was touched but it would be too awkward for him to end it on a sombre note so he directed his reply to the other comment.

"Babies? You are younger than us."

The redhead shrugged, "Probably but I am still more senior. Can't afford any more casualties in close association with me so just promise me you won't be stupid."

"I won't." He promised and felt confident he could keep it.

"Good, I am relying on you man." He received another friendly punch in the arm, he knew the others could probably see this and he imagined Marko would be scowling at the favouritism.

"Hm."

"...Yeah, can't have our young being without my other half, you know."

"Our young?" Rude snapped his attention to the Turk wondering if he'd his heard, the younger's speech was less clear as his manner became more casual so he may have.

The twinkle in Reno's eyes told him he had not. "Tonberry remembe, another reason to get back a.s.a.p. may hatch anytime. We should probably talk about names soon too." He confirmed.

It took a Rude a few moments to realise his mouth was hanging open before he thought of a response. "...You...It hasn't hatched yet?" He asked, referring to the more than two month incubation period. He knew nothing about Tonberry biology admittedly but after so long surely the Turk had a dead egg.

"Oddly no, I think they may have a certain time of year, or conditions that trigger hatching ... I keep meaning to look into that." Reno shrugged and the rookie could tell the possibility that the egg was not going to hatch had not crossed his mind, a reminder the Turk still possessed some youthful optimism when he wanted to, "But mission first."

"Yes." Rude nodded hoping the Tonberry would be forgotten and never brought up again.

It was not long until they descended below the clouds to see they were nearly upon Junon. Reno had been anything but quiet for that time, instead entertaining himself by the sound of his own voice through the speakers to the point Rude was sure Marko was going to jump the Turk and strangle him as soon as they landed. Hama though had been thoroughly entertained by the Turk's comical fairytale story centred on a handsome hero with a long sword whose adventures had not quite left his castle yet on account of his hair not being perfectly coifed. As impressive as his ability to spin out a load of nonsense for so long he was more impressed Hana was enjoying it. He suspected the Redhead's boyish good looks and cocky charm had something to do with it but then more than once Jordo had to turn away and pretend to suffer a coughing attack. Rude had been watching their reactions in the reflection of the very shiny switchboard and mirrors the Turk had set up to see into the back. It told him quite a lot about Doug, which is to say there was not a lot to him, he was still a plank in personality as he was in expression. Maya was very similar to Tabby, just prettier, more self confident and possibly not as smart or at least he got the impression she was accustomed to relying on Hana that she did not bother exercising her cognitive functions as much.

When they could see Junon the large city had his attention completely. It was not the first time they had come here but it was the first time seeing it from the cockpit for Rude. It was as foreboding as it ever looked. Junon to most people was the new city and military installation, with the multi-storey metal building integrated step like into the architecture of the still not-quite-complete Sister Ray. The roads were huge runways for large defence robots and tank vehicles that lumbered along them with uniformed low level Soldiers scurrying about like dots of blue and silver. They were flying low enough to almost skip the top of the buildings and the giant canon looked even bigger up close as it pointed threateningly out to the ocean. No one told him why the weapon had been built or what it had to do with defence and he had not seen any official documentation about it either but it certainly would make most people think twist before upsetting ShinRa. He did not even notice the small fishing village in the giant cities shadow but if he'd peered down he may have caught a glimpse of it before Reno turned the Helicopter towards the landing pads.

There was already a crowd waiting for them and after a neat landing, Reno bolted from his seat, opened the door, leapt onto the tarmac and ran almost head long into a sour faced higher level Soldier. Rude wondered if his enthusiasm had anything to do with wanting to get away from Marko since he did not look that interested in what the Soldier was droning on about as he slouched to attention. The rookies, less sure hopped out with their things and walked calmly after their Senior at a pace that hopefully meant by the time they got their someone would tell them what to do next. They timed it well; the Soldier was already leaving with his troops when they stopped around Reno expectantly.

"Right," the redhead clapped his hands together not looking at any of them in particular, "I landed on the wrong roof." Marko looked murderous, then Reno shot him an evil sideways looks and grinned, "Just kidding," Marko continued to look murderous but Reno had swiftly turned his attention to the large tunnel opening that air craft could wheel in and out of. "Our Bunker is somewhere in this building, Mr Sourpants did say he'd tell us where it is momentarily but since he's probably struggling to remember why he got up this morning we'll save him the stress and find it ourselves."

"Won't they be upset if we wander around as we please," Jordo asked. "We should wait."

"My word is holy," The redhead sang giving the thief an irritating smile that made you want to hit him and back far away at the same time. Then the senior became serious, "Look kids, between you and me we know you are rookies and a bit pathetic. To everyone else you are in Turk uniforms thus you are a Turk and Turks can do whatever they want so long as they look like they are supposed to be doing it. Don't mind Soldiers getting territorial or antsy, they are only like that because we are higher up on the command chain and they cannot do anything about it. They like their toys, guns, tanks and shit, and like children don't want the other kids to play with it, unfortunately for them we are the big kids in the park, we know everything about them and to an extent can boss them around if needs be."

"Really?" Doug asked awed.

"No," Reno laughed, "but we can do what we have to do whether they like it or not. Anyway enough chitchat lets go."

He bounded off, a bit like a rabbit, making no effort to maintain the image of a professional Turk and getting some odd looks from various aircraft maintainers. The worst part was running to keep up with him, looking like bigger fools for following the fool who could not do a better impression of acting lost. They were on the third floor down by the time Marko abruptly came to a halt and shouted, "Enough, let's just go back to the roof they are probably wondering where we've gone!"

No response, except his fellow rookies at various lengths along the red carpeted corridor blinking at him. The sounds of their heavy breathing were punctuated by a distant cry of success, "AH HA!"

At a more leisurely stroll the rookies rounded a corner and faced another long, singular designed hallway with doors on the right and plain bronze metal walls on the left. The only difference was one door was open and Reno's head stuck out of it a moment later. He waved at them, "Found it," He called sounding proud of himself.

"I swear, if he is who we are relying on to get out alive we are all dead," Marko huffed.

"Come on," Maya said in a friendly manner, "He hasn't really done anything...incompetent yet."

"He has not done anything sanely either," Marko countered and the woman did not seem able to argue that point.

They entered the room. As promised it was minimal, six cots were set up with thin mattresses and sheets across the room. Between those and the door was a long metal table with various pieces of equipment and tech laid out, all of which they'd need for the mission. There was a computer on which Reno was already actively typing. He ordered them to get settled in which they did in barely a minute (essentially they flung their belongings on a cot) and investigated the things on the table. Reno did not appear to mind them doing this or whatever was on the screen was much too urgent for him to take his attention from it.

A beep announced he had finished and he appeared lightening fast to slap Doug's hand away from a tiny gun, and calling it a gun was being a bit generous. "Alright," He clapped his hands together demanding their attention, "Now you have all poked at it I am going to assume you know what is what, get together what you know you will need and there should be enough then you are going to get some rest. At eighteen hundred hours we start."

They nodded and immediately began pulling various equipment towards themselves, except Rude who was too busy watching the redhead go over to a cot behind the door that already had a pack ready to go and three belts full of canisters and pellets and various other things useful for break ins and sabotage. He wondered at what point the Turk decided he'd do the afternoon preparations solo because he was sure at some point there was some mention of them being part of it. The Turk adorned what he could, fiddling with the belts to conceal as much of them as possible under a long black coat he threw on over and casually swung the pack over his shoulder, he hid his vibrant hair under a oversized cotton beanie and western style hat on top. He looked more like an adventurer than a thief but he was not going to be inconspicuous, especially not in a place like Junon.

"Where are you going?" Hana asked after noticing what Rude was looking at.

"Just got to do some preliminary preparations," Reno said giving his Stetson a final tug so it was set at a jaunty angle and flashed a charming smile, "Nothing to worry about sweetie, I will be back before you know it." He strolled to the door and swung it open letting in the light of many vibrant fluorescent bulbs and tossed over his shoulder a flippant farewell and one last tease, "Behave yourselves kids, no fighting and no hanky-panky!"

Then the door slammed shut leaving the room darker and emptier, while Hana gave them a glare that told them if any hanky-panky were to be attempted they would be neutered.

* * *

Yay a short chapter. Apologises I promised this long ago but felt my writing was so poor I thought I would go through it and try and make it better a couple of times and gradually add to it. Well some parts are more revised than others and it's still unbeta'd it does need to be beta'd, alas I have forgotten who kindly offered and feel a bit too rude springing this on them ^^; Maybe it can be beta'd and reuploaded in a corrected form since knowing me I have probably filling it with terrible english.

As a side note the next chapter there should hopefully me more action and more Reno 8D

Opinions always welcome and thank you to everyone who have favourited this or just taken the time to read it *bows*


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